A general history of Connecticut from its first settlement under George Fenwick, esq. to its latest period of amity with Great Britain; including a description of the country, and many curious and interesting anecdotes. To which is added, an appendix, wherein new and the true sources of the present rebellion in America are point

PRESENTED TO THE UNIVERSITY
BY THE RHODES TRUSTEES

A

GENERAL HISTORY

O F

CONNECTICUT,

FROM ITS

Firft Settlement under George Fenwick, Efq.

TO I T •

Lateft Period of Amity with Great Britain.

INCLUDING

A DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY,
And many curious and interefling Anecdotes.

To which is added,

An Appendix, wherein new and the true Sources of the prefenc
Rebellion in America are pointed out ; together with the particu-
lar Part caicen by the People of Cunne&icut in Its Promotion.

Bv a Gentleman of the Province.
*

Plus apud me ratio vahbit, quam vulgi opinio.

Cic. Parad. u

SECOND EDITION,

LONDON:
Printed for the Author ;
And fo!d by J. Bew, No. 28, Patcr-Nofter-Rotr t

MDCCLXXXIJ.

Digitized by Google

PREFACE.

THOUGH Connecticut be the
moft flourifhing, and, pro-
portionally, the moft populous pro-
vince in North - America, it has
hitherto found no writer to intro-
duce it, in its own right, to the
notice of the world. Slight and
curfory mention in the accounts
of other provinces, or of America
in general, has yet only been made
of it. The hiftorians of New-
England have conftantly endea-
voured to aggrandize Maffachufets-
Bay as the parent of the other co-
lonies, and as comprehending all
that is worthy of attention, in that

A 2 country.

iv PREFACE.

country. Thus Governor Hutch-
infon fays, in the Preface to his
Hiftory of that Province, " that
" there was no importation of plan-
cc ters from England to any part
" of the continent, northward of
" Maryland, except to the Maffa-
c ' chufets, for more than 50 years
" after the colony began;" not
knowing, or willing to forget or
to conceal, that Saybrook, New-
haven, and Long-Ifland, were
fettled by emigrants from England
within half that period. Another
reafon for the obfcurity in which
the Conne£ticuten{ians have hi-
therto been involved, is to be found
among their own fnnfter views and

pur-

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preface; v

purpofes. Prudence dilated, that
their deficiency in point of right
to the foil they occupied, their
wanton and barbarous perfections,
illegal pra&ices, daring ufurpations,
&c. &c. had better be concealed,
than expofed to public view. To
diflipate this cloud of prejudice
and knavery, and to bring to light
truths long concealed is the mo-
tive of my offering the following
fheets to the world. I am bold
to affert, that Conne&icut merits a
fuller account than envy or igno-
rance has yet fuffered to be given
of it ; and that I have followed
the line of truth freely, and un-
biaffed by partiality or prejudice.

A 3 The

vt PREFACE.

The Reader, therefore, will not
be furprifed, fhould I have placed
the New-Englanders in a different
light from that in which they have
yet appeared : their charaderizers
have not been fufficiently unpreju-
diced, unawed by power, or un-
affected by the defire of obtaining
it, always to fet them in the true
one. Dr. Mather and Mr. Neal
were popular writers; but at the
time they extolled the prudence
and piety of the colonifts, they fup-
preffed what are called in New-Eng-
land unnecejfary truths.' Governor
Hutchinfon, who loved fame, and
feared giving offence, publifhed a
few only of thofe truths ; which

failed

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PREFACE. vii

failed not to procure him a pro-
portionate ftiare of popular diftruft
and odium. For my own part, I
believe my readers will give me
credit, for having neither the fa-
vour nor fear of man before me in
writing this Hiftory of Conne&icut.
I difcard the one ; I court not
the other. My fole aim has been
to reprefent the country, the peo-
ple, and their tranfadtions, in pro-
per colours.

Too much, however, muft not
be expeded from me. I am very
fenfible of many great defedls in
this performance, wherein very
little afliftance was to be obtained
from the publications of others.

.Mr.

viii PREFACE.

Mr. Chalmers, indeed, who is
writing " Political Annals of the
prefent United Colonies" pursues
that tafk with great pains and ad-
drefs. His refearches have been of
fome ufe to me : but, as to the New-
England writers, error, difguife, and
mifreprefentation, too much abound
in them to be ferviceable in this un-
dertaking, though they related more
• to the fubjed than they do. The
good-natured critic, therefore, will
excufe the want of a regular and
connected detail of fads and
events, which it was impoflible for
me to preferve, having been de-
prived of papers of my anceftors,
which would have given my re-

lation

* ■

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PREFACE. ix

»

lation that and other advan-
tages. I hope, therefore, for
much indulgence, ftriking, as I
have -done, into a new and dark
path, almoft wholly without a
guide. If I have carried my-
felf through it, though with
fome digrefllons, yet without in-
curring the danger of being ac-
counted a deceiver, my difordered
garb will, I prefume, find an apo-
logy in the ruggednefs of the road,
and my fcripture phrafeology be
afcribed to the ufage of my coun-
try.

For three generations my fore-
fathers were careful obfervers of the
proceedings of the Conneiticut co-

lonifts ;

X

PREFACE.

lonifts; and, if their papers and my-
felf fliould continue in exiftence till
a return of peace ftiall reftore them
to my pofleflion, I truft the Public
will not be difpleafed with the de-
fign I have of commiting them to
the prefs. In the mean time, left
that event fliould never take place,

I beg their acceptance of the pre-
fent volume, which, whatever other
hiftorical requifite it may want,
muft, I think, be allowed to pof-
fefs originality and truth, (rare pro-
perties in modern publications,) and
therefore, I hope, will not be deemed
unworthy the public favour.

A GENERAL

i

HISTORY

O F

CONNECTICUT.

fTSTTHJOra F T E R fcveral unfuccefsful
5*Jr njn^j attem p ts to form fettlements

p~k. jrf"^ in the fouttiern parts of
kWk^"^ North - America, in which
little more had been done than giving the
name Virginia* in compliment to the
Virgin-queen Elizabeth, to the country,
a patent was obtained, in 1606, from
James I. by Sir Thomas Gates and Af-
fociates, of all lands there between the
34th and 45th degrees of North latitude :
and, at the patentees own felicitation, they
were divided into two Companies, com-
monly denominated the London and

Ply-

s HISTORY OF

Plymouth Companies; to the former
of which were granted all the lands
between the 34th and 41ft degrees of
North latitude, and to the latter all thofe
between the 38th and 45th degrees.
A part of the coaft of the territory laft
mentioned being explored in 16 14, and
a chart prefented to the then Prince
of Wales, afterwards Charles I. it re-
ceived from him the appellation of New*
England*

In the mean time, however, notwith-
ftanding the claim of the Englifh in gene-
ral to North America, and the particular
grant to Sir Thomas Gates and Affociates,
above-mentioned, the Dutch got footing
on Manahattan or New- York Ifland, puflw
ed up Hudfon's river as high as Al-
bany, and were beginning to fpread on
its banks, when, in 16 14, they were
compelled by Sir Samuel Argal to acknow-
ledge themfelves fubjedts of the King of
England, and fubmit to the authority of
the Governor of Virginia.

For

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CONNEfctlfcUf. *x

ft>r the better enabling them to ao
fcomplifli their American undertakings,
the Plymouth Company, in 1620* ob-
tained a new patent, admitting new mem*
bers of rank and fortune. By this they
were ftyled " The Council, eftabiiflied at
u Plymouth, for planting and governing
" that country called New- England \* and
to them Were now granted all the lands be*
tween the 40th and 48th degrees of N. la-
titude, and extending Eaft and Weft from
the Atlantic Ocean to the South Sea,
except fuch as were then a&ually poffeffed
by any chriftian prince or people. Not
long afterwards, the patentees came to
the refolution of making a divifion of the
country among themfelves by lot, which
they did in the prefence of James I. The
map of New England, &c. publifhed by
Purchas in 1625, which is now become
fcarce, add probably the only memorial
extant of the refult, has the following
names on the following portions of the
coaft :

B Earl

a* HISTORY OF

Earl of Arundel Between the rivers
Sir Ferdinando Gorges y St. Croix and
Earl of Carlifle

Lord Keeper

Sir William Belafis

Sir Robert Manfell

Earl of Holdernefs
Earl of Pembroke
Lord Sheffield
Sir Henry Spelman
Sir William Apfley
Captain Love
Duke of Buckingham
Earl of Warwick
Duke of Richmond
Mr. Jennings
Dr. Sutcliffe

Lord Gorges
Sir Samuel Argal
Dr. Bar. Gooch

J Penobfcot.

! Between Penobfcot
and Sagadahoc
river.

Between Sagada-
hoc and Charles
river.

1 Between Charles
river and Nar-
raganfet.

In the above map, no names appear on
the coaft north of the river St. Croix, i. e.
Nova Scotia, which was relinquiflied by

the

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT. 3

the patentees in favour of Sir William
Alexander : the coaft weft of Narra-
ganfet is not exhibited by Purchas, fo that

it is uncertain whether the divifion above
mentioned extended to that or not. Pro-
bably, it was not tfien fufficicntly explored.
However, in 1635, ^ e P ate ^tees, from
the exigency of their affairs, thinking a
furrender of their patent to the King,
with refervation of their feveral rights in
regard to the property of the land, an
advifeable meafure, a new divifion of the
coaft was ftruck out, confifting of twelve
lots, extending to and comprizing land
on the weft fide of Hudfon's river, and of
courfe the Dutch fettlements at Manahat-
tan. The following is an account of thefe
lots: r .

<c 1. From the river St. Croix toPema-
quid.

2. From Pemaquid to Sagadahoc.

3. The land between the rivers Ama-

rafcoggin and Kenebec.

B 2 4. From

HISTORY Of

4. From Sagadahoc along the fea-coaft

to Pifcataqua.

5. From Pifcataqua to Naumkeak [or

Salem].

6. From Naumkeak, round the fea-
coaft by Cape Cod, to Narragan-
fet.

7. From Narraganfet to the half-way

bound between that and Connefti-
cut river, and fo fifty miles up into
the country.

8. From the half-way bound to Con-

nedkicut river, and fo fifty miles into
the country,

9. From Conneaicut river, along the
iea-coaft, to Hudfon's river, and fo
up thirty miles.

10. From the thirty miles end to croft
up forty miles eaftward.

11. From the Weft fide of Hudfon't
river thirty miles up the country to-
wards the fortieth degree, where
New-England beginneth.

1 z. From

CONNECTICUT. $

12. Fron* the end of the thirty miles
up the faid river, Northward thirty
miles further, and from thence to
crofs into the land forty miles."
Hutcb. Hijl. ofMafi Bay.

Thefe divifions were, immediately on
the above-mentioned furrender, to be con-
firmed by the King to the proprietors ;
and propofed to be ere&ed into fo many
diftindfc provinces, under one general
Governor of New-England. It is certain
that this plan was not then carried into
execution in the whole. Several, if not
all, of the lots were formally conveyed to
their refpedtive owners previous to the re-
Agnation of the patent. How many were
confirmed by the King, is not known :
there is pofitive evidence but of one—
to Sir Ferdinando Gorges.

The eighth and ninth lots nearly form
the province of Connecticut, taking
its name from the great Indian king who
reigned when the Englifli made their firft
inroads into the country.

B3 But

6 HISTORY OF

i

"But before I give an account of that
event, it may be proper to premife a few
particulars concerning the Dutch, aU
ready fpoken of as having feated them-
felves on New-York illand and the banks

i p * 4

of Hudfon's river; and alfo concerning
the fcttlemcnts formed by the Englifli in
and near the Maffachufcts-Bay.

The fame year which eftablifhed the
Council at Plymou th, eftablifhed alfo the
Dutch Weft-India Company, to whom
the States of Holland are faid to have
granted, the year after, all the lands be-
tween the Capes Cod and Henlopen.
Under their encouragement and fupport^
the Dutch at New-York were induced to

4

look upon the ait of Argal with contempt i
accordingly they revolted from the alle-
giance he had impofed upon them, caft off
the authority of their Englifh Governor,
and proceeded in their colonifing purfuits
under one of their own nation : — in which
they feem to have employed their wonted
induftry, having, before the year 1637,

erected

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT. 7

credted a fort on the fpot where Hertford
now ftands.

A party of Brownifts, who, in 1619,
are faid to have obtained a grant of land
from the Virginia Company, fet foil on
the 6th of September, in the following
year, for Hudfon's river ; but making, on
the nth of November, the harbour of
Cape Cod, inftead of the place of their
deftination, and finding themfelves not in
a fit condition to put to fea again at fuch a
late feafon of the year, they ranged along
the coaft till a commodious fituation
prefented itfelf, where they difembarked,
and founded the colony of New Ply-
mouth.

Seven years afterwards, a party of Pu-
ritans procured a grant of the lands from
Merrimack river to the fouthernmoft part
of Maffachufets-Bay. They made their
firlt fettlement at Naumkeak, by them
new named Salem ; and a fecond at
Charleftown. Great numbers of the Pu-
ritanic fedl followed their brethren to

B 4 New-

t HISTORY OF

Nfcw-England ; fo that within a few year*
were laid the foundations of 3ofton and
other towns upon the Maflachufets coaft.

Thus far had colonization taken place
in the neighbouring country, when, in
1634, the firft part of Englifli adventurers
arrived in Connecticut from England *,
under the conduft of George Fenwick,
- Jifq; and the Rev. Thomas Peters, and
eftablifhed themfelyes at the mouth of the
river Connecticut, where they built a
town which they called Saybrook, a
church, and a fort.

In 1636 another party proceeded from
Pofton under the condu& of Mr. John
Haynes and the Rev. Thomas Hooker j
and in June fettled on the Weft Bank of
Connecticut river, where Hertford now
ftands, notwithftanding the Dutch had
found their way thither before them.

* Mather, Neal, Hutchinfon, and other writer*
of New-England hiftory, have uniformly deviated
from the truth in reprefenting Connecticut as ha-
ying been firft fettled by emigrants from their dar T
line Mafiachufets-Bay,

A tort

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CONNECTICUT. 9

A third party of\Englifh fettlers ip
Connecticut were headed by Mr. Theo-
philus Eaton and the Rev. John Davei*-
port, who left England early in 1637, and,
contrary to the advice of the people of
the Maflachufets-Bay, who were very de-
firous of their fettling in that province,
fixed themfelves, in July following, on the
North fide of a (mail bay wherein the
river Quinnipiack empties itfelf, forty
miles S. W. of Hertford, and there built
fhe town of Newhaven.

Thus, within the fpacc of three years,
was Conne&icut feized upon by three
diftin<5t Englilh parties, in three different
places, forming a triangle 5 — by what au-
thority I will now beg leave to enquire.

In favour of the firft, it is alleged/
that they purchafed part of the lands be-
longing to the Lords Say and Brook,
which lands included the 8th and
9th lots, and had been affigned to thofe
Lords by the Earl of Warwick, who,
about the year 1630, obtained a grant of
' . * the

io HISTORY OF

the fame from the Council of Plymouth ,
and a patent from the King ; and that
Feriwick was properly commiffioned to
fettle and govern the colony.

Neal, Douglas, and Hutchinfon, fpeak
of this grant and aflignment with the
greateft confidence ; but make no re-
ference where either may be confulted.
They were very willing to believe what
they faid ; and wiflied to palm it upon
the credulity of their readers as a fadt too
well eftublifhcd to need proof. I {hall
endeavour to (hew the futility of their af-
fertions. Indeed, Mr. Hutchinfon him-
fclf Inadvertently gives reafon to doubt the
truth of them. Writing of the transitions
of 1622, " The Earl of Warwick," fays
he, " we are affured, had a patent for the
u Maflachufets-Bay about the fame time,
" but the bounds are not known/* It will
appear prefently that a part of the territory
in queftion was, in 1635, granted to the
Marquis of Hamilton. Now, taking thefe
irveral kerns together, the Council of Ply-
mouth

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT. n

mouth are reprefcnted to have granted, not
only Maflachufets-Bay in 1622, but alfo,
in 1630, a region of vaft extent, including
Connecticut, to the Earl of Warwick ; and
then, in 1635, to ^ ave ""^granted the befl
part of the latter to the Marquis of Hamil-
ton. There is an infeafibility in this fup-
pofition, that, without proof, will deprive
it of all credit among perfons who have
no particular intereft in the fupport of it.

True it is, that Fenwick and his afTo-
ciates were properly authorized to fettle
upon lands belonging to Lords Say and
Brook ; but that the lands they did
fettle upon were the property v of the
Earl of Warwick, is not only without
proof, but againft it. It feems to be
generally agreed, that the Lords Say and
Brook were underftood to have a right to
lands upon Connecticut river ; but that
river being 500 miles long, and running
through the greateft part of New-England,
the iituation of their property was by no
means pointed out : whether it lay at the

mouth,

it HISTORY OF

mouth, the middle, or northern end, was
equally unafcertained. The fettlers, indeed,
cftabltfhed themfelves at the mouth 5 but
without (hewing their right to the fpot :
—they licentioufly cbofe it There never
has been produced any writing of con*
veyance of the land in queftion from the
Council of Plymouth to the Earl of War-
wick, or from the Earl of Warwick to
the Lords Say and Brook ; and therefore
their title to it muft be deemed not
good in law, By ^ letter from Lord Say
to Mr Vane, in 1635, it appears, that he
[Lord Say], Lord Brook, and others, had
thoughts of removing to New-England,
but were not determined whether to join
the adventurers in Bofton, or to fettle
a new colony. — Hutchinf. Hift. Vol. h
p. 42. — If Corinefticut had been affigned
to Lords Say and Brook by the Earl of
Warwick, as it is pretended was done iq
1631, it is very ftrangc that thofe Lords
fhould have been in doubt in 1635 where
to fix themfelyes in New- England, fince

intereft

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CONNECTICUT. 13

intereft and ambition, as well as fertility
of foil, would naturally have led them to
fettle in Connecticut, where they had land
of their own, and where a fettlement was
already began, and bore a very promifing
appearance. Hence it feems but reafon-
able to fbppofe, that, if Lords Say and
Brook were entitled to any land on Con-
necticut river, it could not lie within the
province of Connecticut $ and, if their
claims were derived from the Earl of
Warwick, it may fairly be concluded,
that their property lay much higher up
the couutry, fince the coaft appropriated
to the Earl of Warwick by Purchas is
that at or about Cape Ann. Lords Say
and Brook, therefore, might have a right
to fend Fenwick, Peters, &c. to colonize
upon the northern parts of Connecticut
river, but not Southwardly at the mouth
of it : and their negleCt of the colony at
Saybrook may eafily be accounted for, by
fuppofing that they were fenfible the fet-
lers had fixed upon a wrong fite : an idea

cor-

i 4 HISTORY OF

corroborated by this circumftance* that
Fen wick, fome years after, fold his property
there for a mere trifle, when he might have
fold it dear, if his title had been good.

But it may be afked. Who were the real
proprietor of the eighth and ninth lots?

It is aflcrted, that, on the Council of
Plymouth's relignation of their patent to
Charles I. in 1635, that Monarch granted
the latter to the Earl of Stirling. Poffibly
there is not now exifting any written tef-
timony of this grant ; yet it feems authen-
' ticated by the fale which the Earl made,
in 1639, by his agent Forreft, of the
Eaftern part of Long Ifland as appertaining
to his lot, to Mr. Howell. However,
though his claim is not, perhaps, clearly
to be eftablifhed, it is by no means liable
to the many obje&ions urged againft that
of L >rds Say and Brook, which will in a
manner be annihilated by the additional
argument. I am now going to adduce from
the pcfitive proof there is to whom the
eighth lot really belongs.

It

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CONNECTICUT. i<

-

It ftands authenticated in the Office of
the Lords Commiflioners of Colonies, that,
in April, 1635, was conveyed to James,
Marquis of Hamilton, by a deed from
the Council of Plymouth, the territory
lying between Narraganfet bay and Con-
necticut river. — New- Eng. Rec. A. p. 201.
—The right to the eighth lot, therefore,
was clearly vetted in the Marquis ; and it
only remains to be fliewn why his de-
fendants are not in pofleflion of it, to re-
move every doubt upon the matter.

Unfortunately, in the civil broils of
his time, the Marquis engaged and died
fighting under royal banners, while the
King's enemies took pofleflion of his
lands in Conne&icut. At the Reftora-
tion of Charles II. to his Crown, Reafon
taught the children of loyal fufferers to
expert a Reftoration at leaft of their landed
Property ; and the Daughter of the Mar-
quis of Hamilton petitioned Charles II.
to grant her relief in refped to the land
lying between Narraganfet bay and Con-
necticut

f* History or

nedticut rivfcr 5 a relief <he had the mdfd
reafon to hope for, afc " her Father had
« c died fighting for his Fatter." But
Charles had been too much poliflied in
foreign Courts to do any thing effectual
for his fuffcring Friends. Afterwards the
Earl of Arran applied to William IIL
for redrefs in regard to the fame land j
but that Earl, having afted on the wrong
fide at the Revolution, could not but expedt
as little* from William as the friends of
Charles II. had received from him. How-
ever, William III. ordered the Lords Com*
miflioners of Colonies to ftate his title,
which they fairly did ; and the Earl was
referred to try his caufe in Connecticut— *
before the very people who had its lands
in poffeffion. The Governor and k Com-
pany of Connecticut gave a formal an*
fwer to the claims of the Earl of Arran,
fetting up a title under the Earl of
Warwick, as is above mentioned, who,
they faid, difpofed of the land In difputef
to Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brook,

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CONNECTICUT. 17

and the Lords Say and Brook fold the
fame to Fenwick, Peters, and others. The
Earl of Arran anfwered, that " when
" they produced a grant from the Ply-
" mouth Company of thofe lands to the
" Earl of Warwick, it fhould have an
" anfwer but the Colony was filent ;
— and King William was filent alfo.—
Vide Rec. New-Eng. A. p. 170-201.

Since, then, no proof of any title de-
rived from the Earl of Warwick could
be produced by the Governor and Com*
pany of Connecticut, when the queftion
of right to the country was fairly brought
into litigation, and fince there is a record
of the grant of the eaftern part of it to
the Marquis of Hamilton, it is evident,
that the claim of the prefent pofleflbrs
under Lords Say and Brook is not valid.
The record of the Marquis of Hamil-
ton's grant is an irrefragable proof that
thofe Lords had no right to the traCt be-
tween Narraganfet bay and Connecticut

C river;

18 HISTORY OF

river^ and thence the conclufion is fair,
that they had no right to the tradt be-
tween Connedlicut and Hudfon's river :
for their title to both having but one,
and the fame foundation, it follows
of courfe, that what deftroys it in the
former, deftrovs it in the latter alfo.

However difputable the Earl of Stir-
ling's claim to the land between Hudfon
and Connecticut rivers may be, the Duke
of Hamilton is undoubtedly the rightful
owner of that between the latter and
Narragarifet bay. Thus much I have
proved to fhew the errors of Mather,
Neal, Douglas, and Hutchinfon, who af-
fert what the above Record contradi&s.
I differ in opinion alfo with Divines, who
fay that the World grows every year
worfe than it was the laft. I believe the
World is growing better every year ; and
that juftice will be adminiftered to the
Duke of Hamilton, and other noble pro-
prietors of lands in New-England, who

have

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT. 19

have been wickedly fupplanted by the
emigrations of Puritans, Republicans,
Regicides, and Smugglers. The time, I
hope, is haftening, when the Records I
have quoted will be confidered, and un-
juft pofleffors be ordered to give up their
poflefiions to the right owners j for we
have a King who honours his Crown, and
prefers Juftice to Policy.

Hooker and Haynes, who conducted
the fecond of the three Englifh parties
already fpoken of as making inroads into
Connedticut, and who fixed their head-
quarters at Hertford, left Maffachufcts-
Bay for the fame reafon they had before
kft England — to avoid being perfecuted,
and to acquire the power to perfecute.
Hooker was learned, ambitious, and ri-
gid*. He lived near Bofton two years,
in hopes of becoming a greater favourite
with the people than the celebrated Mr.
Cotton ; but finding himfelf rather un-
likely to meet with the defired fuccefs,

C 2 he

20 HISTORY OF

he devifed the prqjedt of flying into the
ivildernefs of Connedlicut, to get a name.
Accordingly, in 1635, he applied to the
General Court for leave to remove thither,
but was then refufed. The next year,
however, for reafons which will hereafter
appear, he found the fanatics more com-
pliant j and he and Haynes obtained per-
million to emigrate into Connecticut, car-
rying with them, as Mr. Neal exprefles
it, <c a fort of commiflion from the Go-
<c vernment of MafTachufets-Bay for the
€( adminiftration of juftice" there. But
it cannot be fuppofed that Hooker and
his aflbciates could derive any title to
the foil from this permiflion and com-
miflion granted by the Maflachufets Co-
lony, who had not the leaft right to it
themfelvts. The emigrants not only did
not entertain any fuch idea, but, as foon
as they had difcovered a fituation which
pleafed them, they even fet at nought the
commiflion they took with them, the

pro-

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CONNECTICUT. ai

profefled ob}c<a of which was to fecure
the authority and jurifdi&ion claimed by
the Maffachufets over them. Knowing
that they had paffed the limits of that
province, they voted themfelves an inde-
pendent people, and commenced defpots,
pleading the old adage, Solus Papuli fu-
pretna Lex. It has never been fuggefted,
I believe, that this party entered Con-
necticut with any other femblance of au-
thority than this ridiculous permiffion
and commiflion of the Maffachufets dic-
tators.

As to the third party, headed by Eaton
and Davenport, they took poffeflion, as i&

already mentioned, without even pre-
tending any purchafe, grant, permiffion,
or commiflion, from any one.

Of thefe three parties, then, it appears
that the two laft had not the lead fliadow
of original right to the lands they poffefled
themfelves of in Connecticut ; and the
claims of the firft I have (hewn to be ill

C 3 founded.

22 HISTORY OF

founded. I will now confider the right
they are pretended to have acquired after
poffeflion ; in regard to which they feem
to have been put upon the fame foot-
ing, by a general war between them and
the Indians, occafioned by the ambitious,
oppreffive, and unjuft conduct of Hooker
and Davenport. This war opened a door
to king-killing and king-making, vio-
lence and injuftice, in America, fimiliar
to what we have of late years fhuddered to
hear of in India. Hence the Colonies have
endeavoured to eftablifh a title to the lands
by purchafe of the natives : accordingly,
they have produced deeds of fale figned
by Sunkfqunw, Uncas, Jofhua, Moodus,
and others, whom Mr. Neal and Dr.
Mather call Sachems, and confequently
owners of the foil. Whether thofe gen-
tlemen knew, or did not know, that Con-
necticut was owned by three Sachems
only, who with their wives and families
were killed by the Englifh, and who never

would

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT. 43

would give a deed of any land to the
Dutch or Engli(h, is not material ; fince
it is a faft, that not one of thofe Indians
who have figned thofe famous deeds, was
ever a Sachem, or proprietor of a fingle
foot of land claimed by the Colony.

It is true, that Uncas (whom Mr. Neal
calls a Sachem, becaufe the Colonics de-
clared him King of Mohegin, to reward
him for deferting Saflacus, Sachem of the
Pequods) gave deeds of lands that he had
no right or title to : and fo did Sunk-
fquaw, who, after murdering his Sachem,
Quinnipiog, was alfo declared Sachem by
the Englifti Dominion * of Newhaven.
Gratitude, or pride, induced all thofe En-
glifh-made Sachems to aflign deeds to their
creators.

After the death of Uncas, his eldeft fon
Oneko became King of Mohegin, who

* Domin-on, in New-England, fignifies a fove-
reign, independent {late, uncontroulable by any
other earthly power.

C 4 refufed

«4 HISTORY OF

•

refufed to grant any deeds of land to the
Colony; whereupon, vexed at his wifr
dom and honour, they declared him an in?
ceftuous fon, depofed him, and proclaimed
his natural brother Abimeleck to be Sa-
chem of the Mohegins. Oneko gave a
deed of all his lands to Mafon and Harri-
fon, who were his friends $ as did. Abi-
meleck, of the fame lands, to the Colony
who had made him Sachem. This laid
a foundation for a fuit at law, which was
firft tried before the Judges of the colony,
where Mafon of courfe loft his fuit. He
appealed to the King in Council, who or-
dered a fpecial court to fit at Norwich, in
Connecticut ; and Mr. Dudley, a learned
man, and Governor of Maflachufets-Bay,
was the Prelident of it. This Court met,
and, having heard the evidence and
pleadings of both parties, gave a verdi£t
in favour of Mafon's claim. The Colony
appealed home to England, but never
profecuted their fuit to an iffue. Mafon

died,

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CONNECTICUT* *$

died. The Colony kept poflcflion
under Abimeleck, their created King of
Mohegin. About ten years ago, the
heirs of Mafon and Harrifon petitioned
Government to decree that Dudley's ver-
didt fhould be enforced ; but the Colonics
found means to confound the claim of
thofe competitors, without eftablifhing
their own. The truth is, neither the Co-
lonifts, nor Mafon and Harrifon, ever had
any deed or title to thofc lands from Saf-
facus, or his heirs; their deeds fprung
from Uncas, already mentioned, a rebel
fubjedt of Saflacud, without any royal
blood in his veins:— ncverthelefc, Mr.
Neal, and others who have written Hit
tories of New-England, have taken efpe*
cial care to vindicate the juftice of the
fettlcrs, who always, as they fay, con*
fcientioufly purchafed their lands of Sa*

<:hems. 1 have given the Reader fome

idea of the porchafes of the firft colo*
nizers in Conncdticut, who, by their ini-
quitous

z6 HISTORY OF

quitous art of making Sachems, have en-
tailed law-fuits without end on their pos-
terity ; for there is not one foot of land
in the whole province which is not co-
vered by ten deeds granted by ten different
nominal Sachems to ten different perfons:
and, what aggravates the misfortune, the
Courts of juftice differ every feflion con-
cerning the true Sachem j fo that what
the plaintiff recovers at a hearing before
one jury, he lofes upon a re-hearing be-
fore another.

Enough, furely, has been faid to nullify
the Colonifts plea of having bought their
lands of the Indians. As to any pur-
chafes made of the Saybrook fettlers,
thofe at Hertford totally declined them,
till the farcical bufinefs refpedting their
charter came into agitation between the
two junto's who procured it, of which
I fhall fpeak hereafter : and fo far were
the people of Newhaven from buying
any right of Fenwick or his affociates,

that

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT. 27

that they fcorned the idea of claiming
under them ; nay, it was even one of
their principal views in the machinations
wherein they were continually employed,
to reduce the Saybrook Colony under the
tyranny of their own Dominion, as having
no more title to the country than pof-
feflion gave them. And upon any other
fuppofition, it is impoffible to account
for the negleft of the colonizers of Hert-
ford to fecure their lands by fuch a
purchafe, feeming as they did to ranfack
heaven and earth for a title fatisfa&ory
even in their own eyes : they were con-
fcious no purchafe of that kind could
give them firmer footing than they had
already. The truth therefore, undoubted-
ly, is, that Fenwick and Peters had no legal
right to fell the lands they occupied, what-
ever might be their pretentions ; — nor, in-
deed, did they pretend to the power of fel-
ing more on their own account than was
granted tothemfeverally by their patrons the

Lords

*8 HISTORY OF

Lords Say and Brook, which cannot be
fappofed but an inconfidcrablc proportion

of their American property. No

wonder, then, that we find another
claim fet up ; — a claim by conqueft.
This was particularly agreeable to the
genius of the Hertford and Newhaven
heroes ; but will, neverthelefs, appear to
make as little for their right as their
honour, from the following confide-
rations : — Firft, the invaders did not find
Conne&icut in a ftate of nature, but cul-
tivated and fettled by its Indian inhabi-
tants, whofe numbers were thoufands, and
who had three kings, viz. Connedticote,
Quinnipiog, and Saflacus, of whom Con-
nedticote was Emperor, or King of
Kings; a dignity he and his anceftors
had enjoyed, according to the Indian
mode of reckoning, twenty flicks *; i. e.
time immemorial. Secondly, they had

no

* The Indian mode of counting is from One N
Co Twenty, fcvery year they cut a notch in a

Hick - 9

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CONNECTICUT.

no authority to invade, make war upon,
and conquer, the Indians, who were
not at war with the King of England,
nor his patentees, or their affigns. And,
Thirdly, feizures, without legal com-
miffion, of however long (landing, do not
convey right or title by the Engliffx
law.

Feeling the weight of thefe con-
fiderations, the Colonifls have been obliged
to found their claim to the country on
their charter, which was obtained in
1662, .more than twenty -fix years after
they had taken pofleffion. Here again,
they are deftitute of fupport ; for the
King, any more than his fubje&s, could
not give to others the property of the
Duke of Hamilton, unlefs his title had
been proved to be forfeited by due

ftick ; and, when the flick is full, or has twenty -
notches on it, they lay it up, and take another •
When they have thus cut twenty flicks, they rec-
kon no more ; the number of twenty times
twenty, with them, becomes infinite, or incom-
prehenfible.

courfe

3 o HISTORY OF

courfe of law.^ But the charter created no
title it merely conferred on the people
the authority of a legal corporation, with-
out conveying any title to the lands. And,
indeed, the prevarications of the Colonifts
themfelves in regard to their charter-
claim, fufficiently explode it. Whenever
they find their property affedted by any
duty, cuflom, &c. impofed by Parliament,
and warranted by charter, they allege that
they got the lands in pojfl'ejjion by their own
aw?> without the aid of the King and
Parliament of Great-Britain ; as Charles II.
allowed in granting the charter, which
, conveyed no title, but was founded upon
the title they poflefled before the date of it.
At other times, when thefe felfifli tem-
porizers find it convenient, either for pro-
moting their own, or preventing their
neighbours encroachments, then they
plead their charter as the one only thing
needful to prove their right of land even
to the South Sea itfelf !

I*

CONNECTICUT. 31

In fhort, and upon the whole, Pof-
feffion, begun in Ufurpation, is the beft
titfe the inhabitants of Connecticut ever
had, or can fet up, unlefs they can
prove they hold the lands by an heavenly
grant, as the Ifraelites did thofe of Canaan.
This heavenly title was, indeed, fet up by
Peters, Hooker, and Davenport, the three
firft minifters that fettled in Connecticut 5
and is generally believed through the Co-
lony to this day. They thus fyllogiftically
ftated it : — The Heathen are driven out,
and we have their lands in poffeffion ; they
were numerous, and we but few $ therefore
the Lord hath done this great work, to
give his beloved refl.

Thus much for the various pretenfions
of the occupiers of Connecticut in regard
to their right to the foil. I £hall now give
fome account of the proceedings of the
firft fettlers with refpedt to their religious
and civil eftablifliments ; and of their
political tranfaCtions, &c. &c.

The

3 i HISTORY OF

The party which fettled at Saybrook un-
der George Fenwick, Efq. and the Rev.
Thomas Peters, in 1634, contented them-
felves, in framing the polity of their civil
conftitution, with the laws of England,
and a few local regulations. As to their
ecclefiaftical inftitutions, they voted them-
felves to be a Church independent on
Lord-bi(hops, and Mr. Peters to be their
minifter, whofe epifcopal ordination was
deemed good, notwithftanding he had
been filenced in England. They voted
prefbyters to be bifhops, and poffefled of
power to ordain minifters, when invited
by a proper number of people formed
into a fociety by licence from the Go-
vernor. They voted that a certain part
of the Liturgy of the Church of England
might be ufed ; the Lord's Prayer, and
the Apoftles Creed, together with one

Chapter in the Bible, to be read at mor*
ning and evening fervice, or omitted, at
the difcretion of the Minifter: — that

eXtem-

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CONNECTICUT. 33

* » ■ * • •

tempore prayers might be ufed at the
pleafure of the Minifter; but that the fur-
plice fliould not be worn, nor fliould the
fign of the crofs at baptifms, the cere-
mony of the ring at marriages, or faints-
days, &c. &c. be obferved, as in the
Church of England : — that every fociety
licenfed by the Governor, after having a
Minifter ordained over it, be a complete
Church, and inverted with the keys of
difcipline, dependent only upon Chrift,
the head of his Church : — that the Mi-
nifter fliould be the judge of the quali-
fications for church- memberfliip, and
fliould cenfure diforderly walkers :— that
the members in full communion fliould
have power over the Minifter, and might
difmifs him from his parifh, by a majority
of voices, and with the confent of the
Governor: — that all children were the
objedts of Baptifm, and that none fliould
be debarred that facrament for the fins of
their parents, provided an orderly liver

D would

I

34 HISTORY OF

would engage to bring them up In the
ways of Chriftianity: — that all fober per-
fons might partake of the Lord's-Supper,
provided theMinifter, upon examination,
fhbuld find them fufficiently acquainted
with their doty: — that what is commonly
called Converfion, is not abfofutely necef-
fliry before receiving the Lord's Supper,
becaufe that facrament is a converting or-
dinance : — that all Gofpel Minifters were
Upon an equality in office > and that it
wis the bufinefs of every one to admonifh
a tranfgreflbr, privately in the firft place,
and next, if no attention was paid to his
advice, before his Deacons; then, if their
admonition was diffegarded, the offender
fhould be prefented to the Church, (that
is, the Minifter, Deacons, and Communi-
cants, united by the keys of difcipline,)
and, upon his ftill continuing refra&ory,
lie (houlcl be cenfured and rejedled by the
majority of voters, without any ap-
peal : — that Deacons fhould be chdferi by

the

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CONNECTICUT. 35

the Miniftet 1 and Cbrnmutitcants, opon a
rtiajority of voices, and ordained by the
Minifter, according to the holy pra&ice
of St. Paul :— that it was the duty of the
Governor and civilMagiftrates to proteft
and nurtere the Chttfch, but not to go-
vern it ; becaufe Chrift's authority given
to his Church wa$ above principalities
and all civil powers : — &c. Sec.

The fettlers at Hertford, having de-
clared themfelves to be an independent
Cdlony, and that their dominion extend-
ed from fea to fea, voted Haynes to be
their Governor, and appointed fix Coun-
fdlors to afiift him in framing laws and
regiilating the ftate. The fame fpirit of
independence didated their church-dif-
cipline. They voted Mr. Hooker to be
their Minifter, and fix of their church-
members to ordain him. Mr. Hooker
accepted of their vote or call, renounced
his epifcopal ordination, and was ordained
by the fix lay church-members over the

D 2 Church

3 6 HISTORY OF

Church of the independents in Hertford.
Thus Mr* Hooker, who was born in
Leicefterfhire, educated in Cambridge,
ordained by a Bifhop, filenced by a
Bifoop in 1630, in England, and re-or-
dained by fix laymen in America, became,
what he wifhed to be, the head of the
independents in the Dominion of Hert-
ford, where he had the honour and plea-
fure of exercifing, over all who differed
from him in opinion, that violent fpirit
of perfecution which he and his friends
fo clamoroufly decried as too intolerant
to be endured in England. Some of the
charadteriftic do&rines of this perfecuting
fanatic were of the following purport :— r
That Chrift's Church is not univerfal,
but a particular, vifible Church formed
by general confent and covenant : — that
Chrift has committed the power of bind-
ing and loofing to believers, without any
diftin&ion between clergy and laity : —
that ruling and preaching elders are duly

ordained

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CONNECTICUT. 37

ordained to their office by the eledtion
and the impofition of the hands of the
people :— that the tables and feals of the
' covenant, the offices and cenfures of
drift's Church, the adminiftration of all
his public worfhip and ordinances, are in
the ccetus Jidelium, or combination of
godly, faithful men, met in one con-
gregation : — that a diocefan, provincial or
national affembly, is incompatible with
the nature of Chrift's Church ; feeing all
and every member of Chrift's Church arc
to meet every Lord's-day in one place, for
the adminiftration of the holy ordinances
of God : — that a multitude of free people
may eledt and ordain a king over them,
although they were not, prior to the adt,
poffefled of kingly power ; for the people
of Ifrael impofed their hands on the
Levites, when they themfelves were not
Levites ;*-Numb. viii. 10.- — that nature
has given virtual power to a free people
to fet up any chriftian form of govern-

D 3 mcnt,

0

38 HISTORY OF

mcnt, both in Church and State* which
they fee beft for tfaemfelves in the land ;
but Chrift gave the power of the Key?
to his church, *. e. to his believing peo-
ple, and not to Peter qr to Paul as mir
nifters, but as profefled believers in conr
jundion with the ceft of true believers ;
--that the Church hath npt abfolute
power to cfaufe whom it will j it bath
minifterial power only to chafe whow
Chrift hathchpfen, i,e.fach as he has gift?
$d feted for the work of the jniniftry ;
--that neither Popes, Bifhops, .nor Pjefr
byters, are wcel&ry to ordain Minjfters of
jfefias Chrift becaufe the power of tj>p

Joeys is given by Chrift to his Cfewpb, *.
the people in covenant with God >— that,
as ordination is in the powe<r of eapji
Church, no Church hath power over
another, but all ftand in brotherly equa-
lity :-~ -that it is unlawful for any Church
of Chrift to put out of its hand that

power whiph Chrift has given to it, into

the

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CONNECTICUT. 39

the hands of other Churches :— that no
one Church ought to fend to Minifters
of other Churches to ordain its Minifters,
or to cenfure its offenders : — that Bap-
tifm does not make any-one a member
of Chrift's church, becaufe papifts and
other heretics are baptized ; therefore, to
be a member of Chrift's Church, is to own
the covenant of that particular Church
where God has placed fuch member : —
that feven perfons may form a church of
Chrift, but j 5,000 cannot, becaufe fuch
a number cannot meet in one place, nor
hear, nor partake, nor be edified toge-
ther : — th^t ^9 oqe can partake of the
Lorf s-Supper, till he be converted and
has m^n^eftod his faith and repentance
before the Church : — &c. &c.

*

The laws made by the Governor and
Council of Hertford are, in general, much
0/ the fame ftamp with thofc of the
.Ne\yhay$n legiflatprs, of fome of which
an abftraft will be given hereafter.

D 4 The

4 o HISTORY OF

The fanatics at Newhaven, in like
manner with thofe of Hertford, voted
themfelves to be a Dominion independent,
and chofe Eaton for their Governor, and
Davenport for their Minifter. The Go-
vernor and a Committee had the power
of making laws for the State, and the
Minifter, aflifted by Deacons and Elders,
was to rule the Church. The following
is a fpecimen of, the tenets eftablifhed
by Davenport in the latter : — That Chrift
has conveyed all Power -to his people
both in Church and State ; which Power
they are to exercife until Chrift fliall re-
turn on Earth, to reign iooo years over
his militant Saints : — that all other Kings,
befides Chrift and his ele&ed People, are

*

peftilent ufurpers and enemies to God
and Man : — that all Vicars, Redtors,
Deans, Priefts, and Bifhops, are of the
Devil; are Wolve9, petty Popes, and
antichriftian Tyrants :— that Pallors and
Teachers of particular Congregations are

of

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CONNECTICUT. 41

of Chrift, and muft be chofcn by his
people ; /. e. the eledt and chofen from
the foundation of the world ; or elfc
their entrance and miniftry are unlawful : —
that all things of human invention in the
worfliip of God, fuch as are in the Mafs-
book and Common-Prayer, are unfavory
in the fight of God : — that ecclefiaftical
cenfures ought to be exerched by the
Members of particular Congregations
among themfelves : — that the People
fhould not fuffer this fupreme power to
be wrefted out of their hands, until Chrift
fhall begin his reign :---that all good
people ought to pray always that God
would raze the old Papal foundation of
epifcopal government, together with the
filthy ceremonies of that antichriftian
Church :---that every particular who
negledts this duty, may juftly fear' that
curfe pronounced againfl Meroz, —
Judg. v. 23, Curfe ye Meroz ; becaufe they
came not to help the Lord againft the

mighty

±z HISTORY pF

mighty enemies of God and his Church
that every particular Congregation is an
abfolute Church ; the members of it arc
to be all Saints thofe muft enter into
covenant among themfelves, and without
fuch a covenant .there can be jio jChurch : —
that it is an heinous fin to be prefent
wjben prayers are read out of a book by
a Vicar or Bifliop : — that fubje&s pra-
mife obedience to obtain hplp from the
Magiftratcs, and are difcharged from their
promife when the ft^agiftrates foil in their
duty -.-—that, without liberty from the
Prince or Magiftrate, the People may
reform the Church and State, and muft
not wait for the Magiftrates : — &c. &c.
This Dominion, this tyrant of ty-
rants, adopted the Bible for its code of ci-
vil laws, till others fhould be made more
fuitable to its circumftances. The pro-
vifion was politic. The lawgivers foon
difcovered that the precepts in the Old
and New Teftaments were inefficient to

fupport

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CONNECTICUT. 43

fyppott thetn in their arbitrary and
bloody undertakings : they, therefore,
g$v£ themfelyes up to their own inventions
jn ffl&king others, wherein, in forne in-
ltm**> they betrayed fuch an extreme
4egrse of wanton cruelty and oppreffion,
th&t even th$ rigid fanatics of Bofton,
#pd tjbe mftd Zje^lpt§ of Hertford, pqt
0 the blu£h, chriftene4 them the Blue
faws% and the former held a day of
tbaflJ^ying, becaufe God, to his gopd
proyi^ljenct, had' jftationed Ea*on and
J)$venport fo for frpjn them.

Tl^e religous fyfteim eftablifhed by Pe-
ters at Saybfpok w*s weJ I calculated to
pleafejthe (Epde/ate Puritans and zealots
x>f all denominations ; but the fanatics of
Hbe M^ffachufets-Bay, who hated every
part of theiGqmmon-Prayer-bpok worfe
than the Council of Trent and the papal
power e^ercifed oyer heretics, were alarm-
ed at the condudt of the half-reformed
jfchifmatigs in that colony j and, thinking

that

44 HISTORY OF

that their dear Salem might be endangered
by fuch impure worfhipers, confented,
in the year 1636, to give Mr. Hooker
and his affociates liberty to emigrate to
Hertford, notwithftanding the preceding
year they had refufed fuch liberty, feeing
then no reafon for Hooker's feizing the
territory of other people. But when the
New-England Vine was fuppofed to be
threatened by the Bible,Lord's- Prayer, and
Ten Commandments, the pious people of
Maflachufets-Bay permitted Hooker, in
1636, to remove into and govern Con-
necticut by their authority, and to impede
and break up the worfliip of the Peterites
in Saybrook. Hooker was faithful to his
truft, excepting that, when he got to
Hertford, he rejedted the authority of his
employers in the Maflachufets-Bay, fet up
a new dominion, and perfecuted the Pe-
terites under his own banner, though he
called it the banner of Jefus.— But for
his and Davenport's tyrannical conduft,

the

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CONNECTICUT. 45

the Colony at Saybrook would have lived
in peace with the Indians, as they did till
their artful and overbearing neighbours
brought on a general war between them
and the Englifh, which ended with the
death of Saffacus and the deftrudtion of
all his fubjefts. After that war, great
diflention arofc among the conquerors.
Fenwick was fenfible, of a calm dif-
pofition, and very religious ; yet not en-
tirely void of ambition. He claimed the
government of all Conne&icut, and in-
filled upon payment for fuch lands as
were pofleffed by Hooker and Davenport,
and their affociates : this, he faid, was but
common juftice due to his conftituents,
the Lords Say and Brook. Hooker and
Davenport, however, were not fond of his
doftrine of juftice, but made religion,
liberty, and power, the greater objedts of
their concern ; wherein they were fup-
ported by the people of Maffachufets-
Bay, whofe fpirits were congenial with

their

4« H t s f 0 k V d r

thfcifoton. Hehteftboppbrtuttity^ldft

of prejudicing Saybrbok ; and thd troubks
in the Mother-Country furnifhed their
enemies with many. One ftep thty tdbk,
in particular, operated ftiuch to its dif-
ad vantage. The Maflachiifets Colbfiy, ea-
ger to againft Charles I. agreed With
thofe Of Hertford and Newhaveil, NeW-
hampfhire, and Rhode-Iflahd, ro fend
agents to England, afibririg the Houfe -
of Commons of their readinefs to
againft the King and Bifliops. The Say-
brook fettlers, though zealous againft tht
Biftfops, were not much inclined -t6 're-
bellion againft their King, and therefore
took no part in this tranfaftion. As tht
royal caufe loft ground in England, the
apprehenfions of this Colony increafed ;
and Fenwick, finding himfelf unfupport-
ed by the Lords Say and Brook, thought
it prudent to difpofe of his colonial pro-
perty to Peters and his affociate*, and re*-
turn to England. Confufiori being fcftai-

biiihed

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CONNECTICUT. 4f

fcKfhfcd in England, moderation became
in unp&rdontable fin in Saybrook, which
Both the heighbouring Colonies were rea-
dy io ptfriifh by afiuming the jurifdi&ionr
there: mutual jealoufy alone prevented it.
At length, during Cromwell's ufurpation,
tht inhabitants*, fearing the effefts of his
difpleaftire for not joining in the above-
mentioned addrefs to the Commons in
Ehgland, and efpecially left he fhould
put them under the power of the furious
Davenport, and at the fame time fore-
teeirig fid profpedt of the Reftoration,
judged It advifeable, by way of preferring
the leffer to the greater evil, to form a
fort of alliance and jundlion with the
people of Hertford, where Hooker now
lay riuftibered with the dead. The Colony
was not only hereby enabled to maintain its
groufid, but flourifhed greatly ; and the
Mihlfter, Thomas Peters, eftabtifhed a
fchool in Saybrook, which his children
had the latisfa&ion to fee become a

College,

48 HISTORY OF

College, denominated Yale College, of
which a particular account will be given
in the courfe of this work. He was a
churchman of the puritanic order, zea-
lous, learned, and of a mild difpofition ;
and frequently wrote to his brother Hugh
at Salem *, to exercife more moderation,
left <c overmuch zeal fhould ruin him
and the caufe they were embarked in."

At

* William, Thomas, and Hugh Peters, were
brothers, and born at Fowey, in Cornwall, in
Old England. Their Father was a merchant of •
great property ; and their Mother was Elizabeth
TrefFry, Daughter of John Treffry, Efq. of a very
ancient and opulent family in Fowey. — William
was educated at Leyden, Thomas at Oxford,
and Hugh at Cambridge uriiverfities. — About
the years 1610 and 1620, Tbomas and Hugh
were clergymen in London, and William was a
private gentleman.— About 1628, Thomas and
Hugh, rendered obnoxious by their popularity
and puritanifm, were filenccd by the Bifhop of
London. --They then went to Holland, and re-
mained there till 1633, when they returned to
London. — The three brothers fold their lan <kd
property, and went to New-England in 1634.—

Hugh

»

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CON NECTICUT. 49

At his death, which did not happen till
after the Reftoration of Charles II. he
bequeathed his library to the fchool above
mentioned.

The

Hugh fettled at Salem, and became too popular
for Mather and Cotton. He was foon appointed
one of the Truftees of the College at New-
Cambridge.— -He built a grand houfe, and pur-
chafed a large trad-t. of land.— -The yard before
his houfe he paved with flint-ftones from Eng-
land 5 and, having dug a well, he paved that
round with flint-ftones alfo, for the accommo-
dation of every inhabitant in want of water.
It bears the name of Peters's Spring to this day.—
He married a fecond wife, by whom he had one
daughter named Elizabeth. The renown of
this zealot increafing, he received an invitation
to remove from Salem to Bolton, and, complying
with it, he tnere laid the foundation- ftone of
the great Meeting-Houfe, of which the Rev. Dr.
Samuel Cooper, one of the moft learned of the
Literati in America, is the prefent minifter.
Mather and Cotton ill brooked being out-rivalled
by Hugh ; yet, finding him an orthodox fanatic,
and more perfect than themfelves, they feemingly
bowed to his fuperiority, at the fame time that
they laid a fnare for his deftru&ion. In 164 1
thofe envious paftors confpired with the Court
at Bofton to convert their Bifhop Hugh into a

E Politician,

|o HISTOJIY OP

The religious inftitutions of Hooker
at Hertford were not only binding on the
Dutch, but even extended to the great
Connedticote himfelf. The Sachem did

not

Politician, and appoint him agent to Great Bri-
tain. ---The Plot luccecded j and Hugh aflumed
bis agency under colour of petitioning for
fome abatement of cuftoms and excife ; but
his real commiifion was to foment the -civil
difcontents, jars, and wars, then prevailing be-
tween the King and Parliament — -Hugh did not
fee into the policy of Mather and Cotton •, and
he had a ftrong inclination to chaftife the Bifliops
and Court, who . had turned him out of the
Church for his fanatical conduct. On his arrival
in London, the Parliament took him into
their fervice. — The Earls of Warwick an4
Eflex were alfo his patrons.— -In 1644, the
Parliament gave him Archbifliop Laud's library ;
and foon after made him Head of the Archbj&op's
Court, and gave him his eftate and palace at
Lambeth : — all which Hugh kept till the Rettor
ration, when he paid for his zeal, his puritanifro,

and rebellion, on a gibbet at Charing- Crofs. .

His daughter married a merchant in Newport,
Rhode-lfland, and lived and died with an ex-
cellent characler.— -Her Father having met
with fo tragical an end, I omit to mention her

Hufband's,

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CONNECTICUT.

not like his new neighbours ; he rcfufed
to give or fell any land to them ; but
told them, that, as they came to trade,
and to fpread the Chriftian Religion

among

Hufband's name, whofe Pofterity live in good
reputation.-— — Governor Hutchinfon reports^
that the widow of Hugh Peters was fupported,
till 167 1, by a collection at Salem, of 30!. per
ann. Were this report true, it would be much to
the reputation of Salem for having once relieved
the unfortunate. Mr. Hutchinfon might have
pointed out the caufe of the unhappy widow's ne-
ceffity 5 but he has left that part to me, and here
it follows: — After Hugh's Death, the fele&men
of Salem were afraid that the King [Charles II.]
would feize on his eftate in Salem, as had been
the cafe in regard to what the Parliament had
given him in England. They therefore trumped
up a debt, and feized and fold the faid eftate to the
families of Lyndes and Curwin, who pofTefs it to
the prefent time;— and the fele&men of Salem
allowed the widow 30I. per ann. for the wrong
they had done her and her daughter. It
is not likely that the widow was fupported by
any charitable collection ; for William Peters
was a man of great property, and had a deed
of the whole peninfula whereon Bofton (lands,
which he purchafed of Mr. Blaxton, who

E 2 bought

1

52 HISTORY OF

among his fubje&s, which Mr. Hooker
defined toconfift only in peace, love, and
juftice, he had no obje&ion to their build-
ing wigwams, planting com, and hunt-
ing

bought it of the Plymouth Company ; though
Mr. Hutchinfon fays Blaxton's title arofe merely
from his fleeping on it^the firft of any Englilh-
manf. — This was well faid by Mr. Hutchin-
fon, who wanted to jufti fy the people of Salem
in feizing the land and expelling Mr. Blaxton
from his fettlement in 1630, becaufe he faid he
liked Lords- Brethren lefs than Lords-Bifhops. —
Moreover, Thomas Peters, at the fame time, was
living at Saybrook, and was not poor.-r-Thofe
two Gentlemen were able and willing to fupport
the widow of an unfortunate brother whom they
loved very tenderly.— They took great care of
his daughter, and left her handfome legacies. —
From thefe confiderations, I am induced to

believe, that the widow of Hugh Peters never

fubfifted

f The Rev. Mr. Blaxton had lived on Shawmut, or the
peninfula on which Bofton is built, above nine years before
June, ^630, when he was driven away from hi* poflTefiions
by the pious people of Salem, becaufe he was not pleafcd
with the religious fyttem of thofe new - comers. --They
were fo generous as to vote a final I lot to Mr. Blaxton,
near Bofton- Neck, as a compenfation for the whole pe-
ninfula, and for his banimment on pain of death not to
feturn. Blaxton afterwards fold his right to Wil-
liam Peters, Efrj. but who was kept out of polfcflion of it
by thefupreme power of the People.- —

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CONNECTICUT.

S3

ing on his lands. The wifdom and
fteady temper of this great Sachem, and
the vaft number of fubjedls at his com-
mand, made Haynes and Hooker cautious

in

fublifted on any contributions, except what (he
received from her brothers William and Thomas
Peters.— —Mr. Hutchinfon makes a curious
remark, viz. If Hugh Peters had returned to
his pariOi, he would not have fuffered as he did. —
He might have faid, with greater propriety, that,
if Hugh Peters had not been a fanatic and a rebel
more zealous than wife, he never would have
left his Parifii for the agency of the people of
New-England, who never paid him the ftipulated
allowance for his fupport in England, tho* he
gave them thankfgiving-days, inftead of fading,
for the fpace of twenty years, and procured, in
1649, from Oliver Cromwell, a charter for the
Company for propagating the Gofpel in New-
England, which, by contributions raifed in
England, have fupported all the milfionaries
among the Indians to the prefent time;— yet Mr.
Hutchinfon and Neal write largely about the
vaft expence the Maflachufets-Bay have been
at in fpreading the Gofpel among the poor fa-
vages !

1 cannot forbear here to notice an abufe of
this charter. Notwithftanding it confines the

E 3 views

54 HISTORY OF

in their conduit. Many people of Maf-
fachufets-Bay, hearing that Hooker had
made good terms with the Sachem, left
their perfecutors, and fled to the fertile

banks

views of the Company to New-England, yet they,
and their Committee»of Correfpondence in Bofton,
have of late years vouchfafed to fend moft of their
Miflionaries out of New-England, among the
Six Nations, and the unfandiified epifcopalians in
the Southern Colonies, where was a competent
number of church clergymen. Whenever
this work of fupererogation has met with its de-
fended animadverfion, their anfwer has been,
that, though Cromwell limited them to New-
England, yet Chrift had extended their bounds
from fea to fea ! With what little reafon do they
complain of King William's charter to the
Society for the Propagation of the Gofpel in
Foreign Parts ? This Society have fent Miflion-
aries to New-England, where they have an un-
doubted right to fend them, to fupply epifcopal
Churches already eftablifhed there ; whereas the
other Society fend Miflionaries beyond the limits
of their charter, to alienate the minds of the epif-
copal Indians of the Six Nations, againft the
epifcopal Miflionaries and the Government of
the Mother-Country.— -And they have been too
fuccefsful ; especially fmce the Rev. Dr. Eleazer

Wbcclock,

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Connecticut.

banks of Connecticut* that they might
help Hooker fpfead the Gofpel among
the poor benighted Heathen in the
wildernefs. The Reverend Mr. Huet,
with his difciples, fixed at Windfor, eight
miles north of Hertford ; and the Reve-
rend Mr. Smith, at Weathersfield, four
miles fouth of it* In the fpace of
eighteen months, the Dominion of Hert^
ford contained feven-hundred white peo-
ple, and feven independent churches. Ha*
ving converted over to the Chriftian faith
fome few Indians, among whom was
Jofhua, an ambitious captain under the
great Sachem Conne&icote, Hooker,

Wheelock, Dr. Whitaker, and the Rev. Mr*
Sampfbn Occom, by the Charity of England,
have joined in the fame work.-— To the General
Aflembly, and the Confociation of Connecticut,
Dr. Wheelock and his aflbciates are much be-
holden for their fuccefs in converting the poor
benighted favages in the howling wildernefs.
Their merits are great, and tlieir reward is pend-
ing.

E 4 " Huet,

$6 HISTORY OF

Huet, Smith, and others, hereby found
means to fpread the. Go/pel into every
Indian town, and, to the eternal infamy
of chriftian policy, thofe renowned, pious
fathers of this new colony, with the Gof-
pel, fpread the fmall-pox. This diftem-
per raged in every corner : it fwept away
the great Sachem Connedticote, and laid
wade his ancient kingdom. Hereupon,
Haynes and his affembly proclaimed
Jofhua Sachem; and fuch as did not
acknowledge his fachemic power, were
compelled to fuffer death, or fly the Do-
minion. Thus in three years time, by
the Gofpel and fanatic policy, was de-
ftroyed Connecticote, the greatefl king in
North-America. This remarkable event
was confide red as the work of the Lord ;
and the favage nations were told that the
like calamities would befal them, unleft'
they embraced the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift.
Jofhua was grateful to the Englifh who
had made him Sachem, and gave them

deeds

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CONNECTICUT

57

deeds of thofe lands which had conftant-
ly been refufed by Conne&icote. But
Jofliua had as little honour as virtue and
loyalty : he fupported himfelf many years
by figning deeds, and gulled the Englifli
through their own imprudence in neg-
ledting to make a law for recording them.
— Thefe colonifts, having driven out the
Heathen, and got poffeflion of a land
which flowed with milk and honey,
expelled the Dutch, as a dangerous fet
of heretics ; — and Hooker, after doing fo
much for this new Dominion, expeded
the homage from every Church which

is only due to a Bifhop. This homage,
however, he could not obtain, becaufe

each Minifter had pretenfions not much
inferior to his. Difputes arofe about
Dodrine and Difcipline. Hooker taught
that there were forty-two kinds of Grace,
though all of little value, except that of
" faving Grace." As to Difcipline, he
held, that, as he had received his mini-

fterial

>

5 8 HISTORY OP

fterkl ordination from the Laity whd
were members in full communion, he
Confidered thofe actual communicants
as Cbrifl's Church here on earthy and con-
sequently as holding the keys of difcipfine ;
and he maintained, that the Minifter had
but a fingje voice, and was a fubjcft of the
Church. Other Minifters, Who had re-
ceived epifcopal ordination, but had been
filenced by their Biflhops, judged thenv
felves, notwith (landing, to be Minifters
of Chrift j and alleged that the inftaHatlon
of a Minifter by prayer and impofition
df hands of lay communicants, was no
ordination, but a ceremony only of put-
ting a Miniftet' in pofleffion of his Church,
from which he might be difmifled by a
majority of voters of the Members in full
communion. And thofe Minifters taught
for dodtrine, that mankind were faved by
Grace, and that the Gofpel told us of but
one Grace as neceffary to Salvation ; for
that he who believes that Jefus is the Son

of

I

» J

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. $9

of God> is born of God, and enjoys the Grace
of God which brings Salvation. The
majority of the People of courfe were on
the fide of Mr. Hooker, as his plan efta-
blifhed their power over the Minifter ;
and they foon determined by vote, accor-
ding to their code of laws, in his favour.
But the Minifters and minority were
not convinced by this vote, and, to
avoid an excommunication, formed them-
felves into feparate bodies ; neverthelefs,
they foon felt the thundering anathemas
of Hooker, and the heated vengeance of
the civil power. However, perfecution,
by her certain confequence, fixed the
feparatifts in their fchifm, which conti-
nues to the prcfent time. — Hooker reign-
ed twelve years high-prieft over Hertford 5
and then died above fixty years of age, to
the great joy of the feparatifts, but, in
point of populoufnefs, to the difadvantage
of the colony of Saybrook, which was the
little Zoar for Hooker's heretics.

Exaft

Co HISTORY OF

Exadt in tything mint and anife, the
furies of Newhaven for once affedted the
weightier matters of juftice. They had no

title to the land : they applied to Quinni*
piog, the Sachem, for a deed of grant of it*
The Sachem refufed to give the lands of his
anceftors to ftrangers. The fettlers had
teeming inventions, and immediately voted
themfelves to be the Children of God, and
that the wildernefs in the utmolt parts of
the earth was given to them. This vote
became a law forever after. It is true,
Davenport endeavoured to cbriftianize
Quinnipiog, but in vain : however, he
converted Sunkfquaw, one of his fubjedts,
by prefents and great promifes ; and then
Sunkfquaw betrayed his mafter, and the
fettlers killed him. This aflafiination of
Quinnipiog brought on a war between
the Englifti and Indians, which never
ended by treaty of peace. The Indians,
having only bows and arrows, were dri-
ven back into the woods ; whilft the

EngliOi

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CONNECTICUT. 61

Englifii, with their fwords and guns,
kept pofleflion of the country. But, con-
fcious of their want of title to it, they
voted Sunkfquaw to be Sachem, and that
whoever difputed his authority (hould
fuffer death. Sunkfquaw, in return, af-
figned to the Englifh thofe lands of which
they had made him Sachem. Lo ! here is
all the title the fettlers of the Dominion of

Newhaven ever obtained. The cruel

and bloody perfecutions under Eaton and
Davenport in Newhaven foon gave rife to
feveral little towns upon the fea-coaft.
Emigrants from England arrived every
year to fettle in this Dominion ; but few
remained in Newhaven, on account of
Eaton, Davenport ,the Deacons,and Elders,
who poffeffed all power there, and were
determined to keep it. The new-comers,
therefore, under pretence of fpreading
Chrift's kingdom, and fhunning perfec-
tion, joined with the fettlers at Stamford,
Guilford, and Stratford, where, however,

perfecution

62 HISTORY OF

perfccution domineered with as much fury
as at Newhaven ; for each town judged
itfelf to be an independent Dominion j
though, for fear of the Dutch and the
Indians, they formed a political union,
and fwore to bear true allegiance to the
capital Newhaven, whofe authority was
fupreme. As all officers in every town
were annually eledled by the freemen,
and as there were many candidates, fomc
of whom muft be unfuccefsful, there was
always room for complaints. The com-
plainants formed fchifms in the Church,
which brought on perfecution ; and per-
fection drove the minority to fettle
new towns, in order to enjoy Liberty,
Peace, and Power to perfecute fuch as
differed from them. Thus lived thofc
ambitious people, under far worfe perfe-
ctions from one another than they ever
experienced or complained of in Old Eng-
land 5 all which they endured with fome
degree of patience, the perfccuted one

t year

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 63

y$gr living in hopes that the next would
enable them to retaliate on their per-
secutors.

The laws made by this independent
Dominion, and denominated Blue-Laws
by the neighbouring Colonies, were never
fuffered to be printed ; but the following
ftetch of fome of them will give a tole-
rable idea of the fpirit which pervade*

the whole,

* c The Governor and Magiftrates, coj*-
yened in general Aflembly,are the fupreme
power under God of this independent

Dominion,

From the determination of the Affem-
Wy no appeal (hall be made.

The Governor is amenable to the voice
of the people.

The Governor fhall have only a fingle
vote in determining any queftion ; except
a cafting vote, when the Aflembly may
be equally divided.

The Aflembly of the People fliall not

be

64 HISTORY OF

be difmiffed by the Governor, but fliall
difmifs itfelf.

Confpiracy againft this Dominion fliall
be puniflied with death.

Whoever fays there is a power and
jurifdidtion above and over this Dominion,
fliall fuffer death and lofs of property.

Whoever attempts to change or over-
turn this Dominion fliall fuffer death.

The judges fliall determine controver-
fies without a jury.

No one fliall be a freeman, or give a
vote, qnlefs he be converted, and a mem- •
ber in full communion of one of the
Churches allowed in this Dominion.

No man fliall hold any office, who is
not found in the faith, and faithful to this
Dominion; and whoever gives a vote to
fuch a perfon, fliall pay a fine of il. for
a fecond offence, he fliall be disfran-
chifcd.

Each freeman fliall fwear by the bleff-
ed God to bear true allegiance to this

Dominion,

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 65

Dominion, and that Jefus is the only
King. •

No quaker or diflenter from the
eftabiifhed worfhip of this Dominion (hall
be allowed to give a vote for the clcdtion
of Magiftrates, or any officer.

No food or lodging fhall be afforded
to a Quaker, Adamite, or other Heretic.

If any perfon turns Quaker, he fhall be
baniflied, and not fuffered to return but
upon pain of death.

No Pried: (hall abide in the Dominion :
he (hall be banifhed, and luffer death on
his return. Priefts may be feized by any
one without a warrant.

No one to crofs a river, but with an
authorized ferryman.

No one (hall run on the Sabbath-day,
or walk in his garden or elfewhere,
except reverently to and from meeting.

No one fliall travel, cook victuals,
' make beds, fweep houfe, cut hair, or
(have, on the Sabbath-day.

F No

66 HISTORY OF

No woman (hall kifs her child on the
SaBbath or fafting-day.

The Sabbath (hall begin at funfet on
Saturday.

To pick an ear of corn growing in a
neighbour's garden, ihall be deemed
theft.

A perfon accufed of trefpafs in the
night (hall be judged guilty, unlefs he
clear himfelf by his oath.

When it appears that an accufed has
confederates, and he refufes to difcover
them, he may be racked.

No one (hall buy or fell lands without
permiflion of the fele&men.

A drunkard (hall have a matter ap-
pointed by the feledtmen, who are to
debar him from the liberty of buying and
felling.

Whoever publilhes a lye to the pre-
judice of his neighbour, (hall (it in the
flocks, or be whipped fifteen ftripes.

No Minifter (hall keep a fchool.

Every

Digitized by Go

CONNECTICUT. 67

Every -rateable perfon, who refufes to
pay his proportion to the fupport of the
Minifter of the town or parifh, (hall be
fined by the Court 2/. and 4/. every
quarter, until he or (he pay the rate to
the Minifter.

Men-ftealers (hall fuffer death.

Whoever wears cloaths trimmed with
gold, filver, or bone lace, above two (hil-
lings by the yard, fhall be prefented by
the grand jurors, and the fele&men fhall
tax the offender at 300/. eftate.

A debtor in prifon, fwearing he has no
eftate, fhall be let out, and fold, to make
fatisfadtion.

Whoever fets a fire in the woods, and it
burns a houfe, fhall fuffer death ; and per-
forms fufpedled of this crime fhall be im-
prifoned, without benefit of bail.

Whoever brings cards or dice into this
Dominion fhall pay a fine of 5/,

No one fhall read Common-Prayer,
keep Chriftmas or Saints- days, make

F 2 minced

7,8 HISTORY O F

minced pies, dance, play cards, or play on
any inftrument of mufic, except the drum,
trumpet, and jews-harp.

No Gofpel Minifter fliall join people
in marriage ; the Magiftrates only fliall
join in marriage, as they may do it with
lefs fcandal to ChrifVs Church f.

When parents refufe their children con-
venient marriages, the Magiftrates (hall
determine the point.

The fele&men, on finding children
ignorant, may take them away from their
parents, and put them into better hands,
at the expence of their parents.

Fornication fliall be punifhed by com-
pelling marriage, or as the Court may
think proper.

Adultery (hall be puniflied with death.

A man that ftrikes his wife fliall pay a
fine of 9 iol. a woman that ftrikes her

t The Savage Pawawwers, or Priefts, never ■
concern themfelvcs with marriages, but leave them
to the Paniefh, or Magiftrates.

husband

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CONNECTICUT. 69

hufband (hall be punifhed as the Court
direds.

A wife (hall be deemed good evidence
againft her hufband.

No man (hall court a maid in perfon,
or by letter, without firft obtaining con^
fent of her parents : 5/. penalty for the
firft offence; 10/. for the fecond ; and>
for the third, imprifonment during the
pleafure of the Court.

Married perfons muft live together, or
be imprifoned.

Every male fhall have his hair cut
round according to a cap*."

Of fuch fort were the laws made by
the people of Newhaven, previous to
their incorporation with Saybrook and
Hertford colonies by the charter. They
confift of a vaft multitude, and were very
properly termed Blue Laws ; i.e. bloody

* The Levitical law forbids cutting the hair,
or rounding the head.

F 3 Laws ;

70 HISTORY OF

Laws i for they were all fanftified with
excommunication, confifcation, fines, ba-
nifliment, whippings, cutting off the ears,
burning the tongue, and death. Europe
at this day might well fay the Religion
of the firft fettlers at Newhaven was
fanaticifm turned mad ; and did not fimi-
Jar laws ftill prevail over New-England
as the common law of the country, I
would have left them in filence along
with Dr. Mather's Patres confcripti, and
the renowned Saints of Mr. Neal, to fleep
to the end of time. No one, but a par-
tial and blind bigot, can pretend to fay
the projedtors of them were men of
Grace, Juftice, and Liberty, when nothing
but murders, plunders, and perfections,
mark their fteps. The beft apology that
can be made for them is, (I write in re-
ference to thofe times,) that human nature
is every-where the fame; and that the
mitred Lord and canting Puritan are
equally dangerous, or that both agree in

the

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CONNECTICUT. 71

the unchriftian do&rine of perfecution,
and contend only which (hall put it in prac-
tice. Mr. Neal fays many call the firft
Colonizers in New-England weak men
for fepara ting from the Church of England,
and fuffering perfections, rather than
comply with indifferent ceremonies ; and,
after afferting that they were men of great
learning and goodnefs, he appeals to the
world to judge, which were weak, the
Biftiops or the Puritans ? My anfwer is,
that thofe Puritans were weak men in Old
England, and ftrong in New England,
where they out- pop 'd the Pope, out-
king'd the King, and out-bifhop'd the
Bifhops. Their murders and perfecutions
prove their ftrength lay in weaknefs, and
their religion in ambition, wealth, and
dominion.

Notwithftanding the perpetual jealou-
fy and difcordance between the three co-
lonies of Connedticut, (Saybrook claiming
the whole under the Lords Say and Brook,

F 4 Hertford

7 * HISTORY OF

Hertford under Jehovah and Conqueft,
and Newhaven under King Jefus and
Conqueft,) they judged it necellary, for
their better fecurity againft the Dutch and
Indians, to ftrengthen each other's hands
by forming a* general confederacy with
the Colonics of New Plymouth and the
Maffachufets-Bay. A meafure of this
kind, which they formally entered into
in 1643, proved of the moft falutary
cbnfequence, in a war which many years
after broke out between them and Philip,
fachem of the Pokanoket Indians, and
which, for fome time, imminently endan-
gered the Colonies, but at length termi-
nated in the deftrudion of that noted
warrior and his followers.

The death of Cromwell in 1658 ftruck
an awe throughout all New- England,
Hertford and Newhaven appointed their
days of fading and prayer. Davenport
prayed " the Lord to take the New-Eng-
u land Vine under his immediate care,

" as

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CONNECTICUT. 7$

te as he had removed by death the great
" Prote&or of the proteftant liberty:"
neverthelefs he lived to fee the time
when Charles II. obtained the poflef-
fion of his Father's crown and kingdom,
in fpite of all his prayers. * However, in
the midft of forrows, they were com-
forted by the prefence of many regicides
and refugees, who fled from England not
fo much for religion as for liberty ; among
whom wefeWhaley,GofFe, and Dixwell*,
three of the judges and murderers of
Charles I. Davenport and Leet the then
Governor received them as Angels from
Heaven, and bleffed God that they had
efcaped out of the hands of " Herod the
" fon of Barabbas."

Newhaven Dominion being thus Sud-
denly filled with inhabitants, faw itfelf

* Dixwtil died and lies buried in Newhaven.
His grave is vifitcd by the Jebtr dijjviters with great
reverence and veneration ; nay, even held facred as
the tomb at Mecca. Here are buried alfo the chil-
dren of Colonel Jones, and many other rebels.

enabled

HISTORY OF

enabled to fupport its independence, apd
as ufual defpifed Hertford and Saybrook,
and withal paid no attention to the
King and Parliament of England. — The
People of Maffachufets, who were ever for-
ward in promoting their own confequence,
obferving the temper and condudt of thofe
of Newhaven, conceived an idea at once of
exalting an individual of their own Pro-
vince, and of attaching Hertford and
Saybrook to their intereft for ever. They
fent Mr. John Winthrop privately to Hert-
ford, to promote a petition to Charles II.
for a charter, as a fecurity againft the
ambition of Newhaven. — The Bofto-

-

nians boafted of having had the honour
of fettling Hertford, which they therefore
profefled to confider in the light of a
near and dear connection. The propofal
was accepted by the few perfons to whom
it was communicated, but, in framing
their petition, they found themfelves de-
ficient in their title to the lands. This

obliged

■

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CONNECTICUT. 75

obliged them to have recourfe to a Junto
at Saybrook, who claimed a title under
Lords Say and Brook. — A few pur-
chafes, or rather exchanges, of land now
took place between the Junto's after
which a petition was drawn up, contain-
ing an artful defcription of the lands
claimed, " part of which they faid they
had purchafed, and part they had con-
quered." They then as privately ap-
pointed Mr. Wiothrop their agent to ne-
gociate the bufinefs in England, which
he very willingly undertook. On his ar-
rival here, he applied to the agents of
\Jafiachufets-Bay, and with their affift-
ance procured from the incaution of
Charles II. as ample a charter as was ever
given to a palatinate ftate 3 it covered not
only Saybrook, Hertford, and Newhaven,
but half New- York, Ncw-Jerfey, and
Penfylvania, and a tradt of land near 100
miles wide, and extending weft ward to the
South fea, 1400 miles from Narraganfet

bay.

7 6 HISTORY OF

bay. This Charter, which was obtained
in 1662, well pleafed the people of Hert-
ford, becaufe it coincided with their for-
mer vote, viz. c < that their dominion ex-
tended from fea to fea." Newhaven do-
minion too late difcovered the intrigues
of her artful neighbours ; and, after two
years oppofition, fubmitted to the charter
purely out of fear left fome of her minif-
ters and magiftrates fhould fuffer ignomi-
nious deaths for aiding in the murder of

their King.

To the great joy of the People of
Bofton and Saybrook, Mr. Winthrop was
appointed, by the Charter, Governor of
all Connecticut. Their joy, however,
fprung from different motives : Saybrook
hoped for effectual protection from the
infults of Hertford and the perfecutions
of Newhaven; and Bofton expedted to
govern the Governor.

Mr. Winthrop fettled at New-London,

in the kingdom of Saffacus, or colony

of

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CONNECTICUT. 77

of Saybrook, where he purchafed lands oif
the claimants under Lords Say and
Brook. Wifdom and moderation guided
Mr. Winthrop. He was annually elected
Governor till his death, which happened
in 1676.

Whether it were owing to the difco-
very of any defect in the title of the
People of Connecticut to the foil, or of
any undue arts practifed in obtaining their
charter, or whether it mull be confidered
as an inftance of Charles's fickle or arbi-
trary difpofition, that Monarch, in the
fhort fpace of two years after granting
that charter, comprized half Connec-
ticut in another grant to his brother the
Duke of York of the territory between
the rivers Connecticut and Delaware,
called by the Dutch New Netherlands.
This ftep excited much difcontent in
Connecticut, efpecially when an actual
defalcation of its territory was difcovered

to be in agitation, after Colonel Nichols

had

7 8 HISTORY OF

had fuccceded in an enterprize he was
fent upon againft the Dutch at New-
York. Commiflioners were fent thither
from Connedticut, the latter end of 1664,
to defend the interefts of the Colony $ but,
notwithftanding all the oppolition they
could make, they were conftrained to
yield up the whole of Long-Ifland, and
a ftrip of land on the eaft fide of Hudfon's
river. This difmemberment is not eafily
to be juftified j but, probably, finding it
neceflary to the performance of a promife
he had made the Dutch of the enjoyment
of their poffeflions, Nichols might think
himfelf at liberty of infifting upon it, fur-
niflied as he was with almoft regal pow-
ers as the Duke of York's deputy. In
that capacity, he aflumed the government
of the conquered territory, but does not
appear to have intermeddled further with
that of Connedticut.

With Colonel Nichols were aflbciated
three other gentlemen, in a commiflion,

em-

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CONNECTICUT. 79

empowering them to enquire into the
ftate of the New-England provinces, to
hear and redrefs complaints, fettle dif-
ferences, and check abufes of power:
but the ill humour and obftinacy of
thofe of Connecticut and Maflachufets-
Bay, in a great mcafure fruftrated their
endeavours.

By authority of the Charter, the free-
men chufe annually, in May, a Governor,
a Deputy -Governor, a Secretary, a Trea-
furer, and 12 Affiftants, and, twice a year,
two Reprefentatives from each town.
Thefe, being met, conftitute the General
Aflembly, which has power to make laws,
provided they are not repugnant to the
laws of England, and enforce them with-
out the confent of the King.

The General Aflembly meets in May
and O&obcr without fummoning. By
it the colony has been divided into fix
counties, viz. Hertford, Newhaven, New-
London, Fairfield, Windham, and Litch-
field ;

So HISTORY OF

field ; and thcfe fubdividcd into 73 town-
fhips, and 300 parifhes

Each town lias two or more juftices
of peace, who hear and determine, with-
out a jury, all caufes under 2/.

Each county has five judges, who try
by a jury all caufes above 2/. '

Five judges prefide over the fuperior
court of the province, who hold two fef-
fions in each county every year. To this
court are brought appeals from the coun-
ty courts when the verdid exceeds 10/.
appeals from the courts of probate,
writs of error, petitions for divorce, &c.

The General Aflembly is a court of
chancery, where the error or rigour of the
judgments of the fuperior court are cor-
rected.

The General Aflembly, and not the
Governor, has the power of life and death.

The courts of probate are managed by
a juftice of peace appointed by the Gene-
ral Aflembly.

Each

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CONNECTICUT. St

feach county has its Sheriff, and each
town its conflaWes.

By charter the Governor is Captain-
general of the militia. Fourteen Colonels,
14 Lieutenant-Colonels, and 14 Majors,
are appointed by the General A {Terri-
bly. The Captains and Subalterns are
eledted by the People, and commiflioned
by the Governor.

The ecclefiaftical courts in Conne&icut
are, 1. The Minifter and his Communi-
cants : 2. The Affociation, which is com-
pofed of every minifter and deacon in
the county : 3. The Confociation, which
confifts of four minifters and their dea-
cons, chofen from each Affociation ;
and always meets in May, at Hert-
ford, with the General Affembly. An ap-
peal from the Confociation will lie before
the General Affembly ; but the clergy
have always been again-ft it, though with
lefs fuccefs than they wiflied. — The Gene-
ral Aflcmbly declared <4 Sober Diffcnters"

G to

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8t FlISTORY OF

to be the cftablifhed religion of the pro-
vince.

The laws of the colony enaded by the
authority of the Charter, are decent in
comparifon with the Blue Laws. They
make one thin volume in folio. Yet ex-
ceptions may juftly be made to many of
them— equal liberty is not given to all
parties — titles are unfairly laid—- the poor
are oppreffed. — One law is intolerable,
viz. When a trefpafs is committed in the
night, the injured perfon may recover
damages of any-one he fhall think proper
toaccufe, unlefs the accufed can prove
an alibi, or will clear himfelf by an oath ;
which oath, never thelefs, it is at the option
of the juftice either to adminifter or re-
fufe. Queen Ann repealed the cruel
laws refpe&ing Quakers, Ranters, and
Adamites'j but the General Aflembly,
notwithftanding, continued the fame in
their law-book, maintaining that a law
made ix* Connecticut could not be re-
pealed

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CONNECTICUT. S 3

pealed by any authority but their own.
it is a ruled cafe with them, that no law
or ftatute of England be in force in Con-
ne&icut, till formally pafled by the Gene-
ral Aflembly, and recorded by the Secre-
tary. Above 30 years ago, a negro caf-
tratcd his mafter's fon, and was brought
to trial for it before the Superior Court at
Hertford. The Court could find no law to
punifti the negro. The lawyers quoted
the Englifh ftatute againft maiming;
the Court were of opinion that ftatute did
not reach this colony, becaufe it had not
been pafled in the General Aflembly 5 and
therefore were about to remand the negro
to prifon till the General Aflembly (hould
meet. Bufc an ex-pojl-fafto law was ob-
jedted to as an infringement upon civil
liberty. At length, however, the Court
were releafed from their difficulty, by
having recourfe to the vote of the
firft fcttlers at Nevvhaven, viz. That the
Bible fliould be their law, till they could

G 2 make

8 4 HISTORY OF

make others more fuitable to their cir*
cumftances. The court were of opinion
that vote was in full force, as it had not
been revoked; and thereupon tried the
negro upon the Jewifh law, viz. Eye for
Eye, and Tooth for Tooth. He fuffered
accordingly.

The idea foftered by the colony of
independence on Great Britain, was not,
as might be imagined* dcftroyed by the
royal charter, but, on the contrary, was
renewed and invigorated by it. Indeed,
the charter is as much in favour of Con-
necticut, and unfavourable to England, as
if it had been drawn up in Bofton or
Newhaven. Had it been granted jointly
by the King, Lords, and Cogimons, and
not by the King folm> no one could dif-
pute the independence of Connecticut on
England, any more than they could that
of Holland on Spaih. The people at
Jarge did not difcriminate between an ail
the Kwgfo/vs, and an adt of the King,

kordsj

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CONNECTICUT. 8|

Lords, and Commons, conjointly artd t
to prevent any one from (hewing the dif-
ference, the General Affembly made a
law, that u whoever (hould attempt to
deftroy the conftitution of this Colony
as by charter eftablifhed, fhould fuffeF
death.*' The power of a Britifh King
was held up by them much higher than
the conftitution allowed. The King
had authority, they faid, tp form palati-?
nate ftates without confent of Parliament,
Accuftomed to dqdtrines of this tendency,
the multitude concluded the General Afi
fembly of Connecticut tQ b$ equal to the
Britifh Parliament,

Notions of this kind did not prevail
in Connecticut alone j Maffachufets-Bay
ftill more abounded with them, and
Rhode Jfland was not uninfe&ed. What
was the confequence ? Complaints againft
thofe governments poured into the Bri-
tish court. A reformation, therefore, be-
Sarue indifpen fable in NeW-EngJand, an4

G 3 WW

8t5 HISTORY OF

was begun by a disfranchifement of the
Maflachufets province. The death of
Charles II. put a temporary flop to pro*
ceedings againft the other colonies ; but
James II, foon found it expedient to re-
new them. In, July, 1685, the following
inftances of mal-adminiftration were for-*
mally exhibited againft the Governor and
Company of Connecticut, viz. 4C They
cc have made laws contrary to the laws
(C of England :— they impofe fines upon
" the inhabitants, and convert them to
" their own ufo: — they enfore an oath of
u fidelity upon the inhabitants without
" adminiftering the oath of fupremacy and
" allegiance, as in their charteris diredled ;
" they deny to the inhabitants the exer-
a cife of the religion of the church of
** England, arbitrarily fining thofe who
<c refufe to come to their congregational
,f Aflemblies: — his Majefty's fubjedts in-
<f habiting there, cannot obtain juftice in
" the courts of that colony : — they dif-

" courage

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Connecticut. Sj

** courage and exclude the government
* c all gentlemen of known loyalty, and
*' keep it in the liands of the independent
u party in the colony.' ' (New-Eng. Ent f
w/.ii. p. 241.) In confequence of this
impeachment, James II. ordered a §>uq
Warranto to be iffued againft the Char-
ter of Conne&icut. The People per*
ceived the King was in earned ; and
their alarm manifefted itfelf in humble
foHicitations for favour ; but, it being
thought advifeaWe, on feveral accounts,
particularly the extenfive progrefs the
French were making in Canada, to ap*
point one general Governor over New-
England, the fubmiffive applications of
the Connecticut colonifts could no fur-
ther be regarded than in allowing then*
their choice, whether to be annexed to
New- York, or the Maffachufets, They
preferred the latter ; and, accordingly, Sir
Edmund Andros having been appointed
Captain-general over all New-England,

G4 the

HISTORY OP

the charter of Connecticut was furrender-
<ed to him. It is very remarkable, that
Mr. Neal, Hutchinfon, and other hifto-
.rians of New- England, have artfully paff-
-ed over in filence this tranfa&ion of the
furrender of Conne&icut Charter to Sir
-Edmund Andros, the General Governor
over New -r England. They have re-
•prefented the magistrates of Connedticut
as not having refigned their charter, but
by an erroneous conftru&ion put on their
humble fupplication to James II. by
tht Court of London ; whereas the
is, they refigned it, in propria forma, into
the hands of Sir Edmund Andros, at
tHertford, in Odtober, 1687, and were an-
nexed*o the Maffacjiufets-Bay colony, in
preference to New-York, according to
royal promife and their own petition,
But the very night of the furrender of it,
^Samuel Wadfworth, of Hertford, with
*he affiftance of a mob, violently broke
into jhe apartments of Sir Edmund, xtr

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CONNECTICUT. 8.9

gained, carried off, and hid the charter in
the hollow of an elm; and, in 1689, news
arriving of an infurredtion and overthrow
of Andros at Bofton, Robert Treat, who
had been eledted in 1 687, was declared
by the mob ftill to be Governor of Con~
nedticut. He daringly fummoned hfc old
Afiembly, who, being convened, voted
the charter to be valid in law, and that
it could not be vacated by any power,
without the confent of the General-Af-
fcmbly. They th<en voted, that Samuel
Wadfworth fliould bring forth the char-
ter j which he did in a folemn proceffion,
attended by the Higl>(heriff,and delivered
k to the Governor. The General AC
fembly voted their thanks to WadA-
worth, and twenty (hillings as a reward
for Jlealing and hiding their charter in the
elm. Thus Connefticut darted from
a dependent county into an independent
province, in defiance of the authority
nthat had lately been paid /uch humble

fab*

T

$6 HISTORY OF

fubmiflion. None fhould be furprized
to find the People (hewing more defe*
reiicc to Abimeleck King of Mohegin,
than to George King of England ; fince
a vote of men, whofe legiflative and even
corporate capacity had been annihilated,
has prevailed, for more than eighty years,
over a juft exertion of royal prerogative.
Neverthelefs, this unconftitutional Af-
fembly, whofe authority under an af-
fumed charter has been tacitly acknowl-
edged by the Britifh Parliament, have not
at all times been unchecked by the Corpo-
ration of Yale College. That College,
by a charter received from this felf-
eretted Government, was enabled to give
Bachelors and Mailers degrees ; but the
Corporation have prefumed to give Doc*
tors degrees. When the General Affem*
bly accufed them of ufurping a privilege
hot conferred by their charter, they re*
torted, that " to ufurp upon a charter,
u was not (ff bad as to ufurp a vacated

" charter/'

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CONNECTICUT. 9$

" charter." The General Affembly were
obliged to be content with this anfwer, as
it contained much truth, and came fron*
the clergy, whofe ambition and power
are not to be trifled with.

1

Whatever might be the reafon of the
Englifh Government's winking at the
contempt (hewn to their authority by the
people of Conne&icut, it certainly added
to their ingratitude and bias to ufur*
pation, Having been in poflcffion of that
country one-hundred and forty years,
the General Affembly, though unfup-
ported either by law or juftice, refolved
to take up and fettle their lands weft not
only of Hudfon but Sufquehanna river,
and extending to the South- Sea. In
purfuance of this refolution, they with
modefty paffed over New-York, and the
Jerfeys, becaufe they are poffefled by Myn*»
heers and fighting chriftians, and feized on
Penfylvania, claimed by Quakers, who
fight nor for either wife or daughter.

92 HISTORY OP

They filled up their fathers iniquities, by
murdering the Quakers and Indians, and
taking poffefilon of their lands $ and na
doubt, in another century, they will pro-
duce deeds of fale from Sunkfquaw,
Uncas, or fome other fuppofitittous Sa-
chem. This is a ftriking inftance of the
ufe I have faid the Colony fometimes
make of their charter, to countenance
and fupport their adventurous fpirit of
enterprize. They plead that tfieir char*
ter bounds them on the weft by the
South- Sea $ but they feejn to have for-
gotten that their charter was furreptitioufly
Obtained; and that the claufe on which they
dwell is rendered nugatory, by the petiti-
oners having defcribed their lands as lying
fipon Connefticut river, and obtained
partly by purchafe and partly by conqueft,
Now, it being a fad: beyond all contro-
Verfy, that they then had not conquered,
fior even pretended to have purchafed, any
lands weft of Hudfon's -River, it is evit

dent

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CONNECTICUT. 93

dent that their wefternmoft boundary ne-
ver did or ought to extend further than to
that river. Not that Mr. Pen has any
juft title to thofe lands on Sufquehanna
xiver which are the bone of contention,
and which lie north of his patent : they
belong to the affigns of the Plymouth
Company, or to the Crown of England.

Republicanifm, fchifms, and perfec-
tions, have ever prevailed in this Colony.
~— The religion of u Sober DiJJenters"
having been eftablifhed by the General
Affembly, each fe& claimed the eftablifh-
roent in its favour. The true Indepen-
dents denied that the Affembly had any
further power over Chrift's Church than
to protedt it. Few Magiftrates of any
religion are willing to yield their autho-
*ity to Ecclefiaftics j and few diiciples of
Luther or Calvin are willing to obey either
civil or fpiritual matters. In a Colony
•where the people are thus difpofed, do-
minion will be religion, and fadtion con-
fidence*

$4 HISTORY OP

faience. Hence arofe contentions between
the Aflembly and Independents j and both
parties having been brought up under
Cromwell, their battles were well fought.
The independent Minifters publilhed*
from their pulpits, that the Aflembly
played off one fc& again ft another ; and
that Civilians were equal enemies to all
parties, and a£ed more for their own
kuereft than the glory of God, Thofe
fpirkual warriors, by their Afibciations,
fading and prayers, voted themfelvrs the
tc Sober Bi£enters" and got the better of
the General Aflembly. Indeed, none dif*
puted their vote with impunity. When*
ever a Governor manifefted an inclination
to govern Chrift's Minifters, Chrift's
Minifters were fure to inftrudt the free-
men not to re-eledl hiiri. The Magif-
tfates declared they had rather be under
Lords- Bifhops than Lords- Aflbciations.
A Governor was appointed, who deter-
mined to reduce Chrift's Minifters under

the

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CONNECTICUT. 9 j

the Civil Power $ and, accordingly, the
Afiembly fent their Sheriff to bring before

them certain leading men among the Mi-
nifters, of whom they banifhed fpme,
filenced others, and fined many, for
preaching fedition. The Minifters told the
Affcmbly, that cutft cows had fliort hornsj
and that u they were Priefls for ever
« after the order of Melcbifedec" How-
ever, like good chriftians, they fubmitted
to the ientence of the Aflemblyj went
home, fafted, and prayed, until the Lord
pointed out a perfedt cure for all their
fufferings* On the day of eleftion,
they told the freemen that the Lord's caufe
tequired a man of Grace to ftand at the
head of the Colony, and with fure confi-
dence recommended the Moderator of the
Affociation to be their Governor j and
the Moderator was chofen. This event
greatly inflamed the lay-magiftrates, who
were further mortified to fee Minifters
among the .Reprefcntatives j whereupon

they

9 6 rttSTORY OP

they cried out, " This is a prefbyterlart
popedom." Now Magiftrates joined with
Other Churches which they had long,
perfecuted ; and the Connecticut Vine

Was rent more and more every day* The
Minifters kept the power, but not always
the office, of the Governor, whilft the
Weaker party paid the coft. One party
Was called Old Light, the other New
Light t both aimed at power under pre*
fence of religion j which-ever got the
pwer*, the other was perfecuted. By this
happy quarrel, the various fe&arians were
freed from their perfections $ becaufe
each contending party courted their votes
And interefti to help to pull down its
adveffary* This has been the reli-
gious-political free fyftem and praftice
of Connecticut fince 1662.

In fpeaking of the religious phrenzies
and perfections in Connecticut under the
(kndtion of the charter, I muft notice the
Words of an eminent Quaker, who, as a

blafphemer,

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT. 97

blafphemer, had been whipped, branded,
burnt in the tongue, fet on the gallows,
banifhed, and, upon return, fentenced
to be hanged. '« Doft thee not think,"
faid he to his Judges, if that the Jews,
" who crucified the Saviour of the World,
M had a Charter f "

' Many have been the difputes between
Connedticut and the neighbouring Colo-
nies concerning their feveral boundaries,
and much blood has been fpilt on thofe
occafions. On the north and eaft,
where lie the Maflachufets and Rhode-
Ifland, Connedticut has, in fome degree,
been the gainer ; but has loft confiderably
on the weft and fouth, to the engen-
dering violent animofity againft the loyal
New-Yorkers, to whom it will probably
prove fatal in the end. The detail is
briefly as follows :

The Dutch fettlers on New- York
Ifland, Hudfon's river, and the weft end
of Long Ifland, being fubdued by Colonel

H Nichols

9 S HISTORY OF

Nichols in September, 1664, the royal
Commiflioners, after hearing the Depu-
ties from Connecticut in fupport of the
charter granted to that province again ft
the Duke of York's patent, ordered, in
December following, that Long-Ifland
fhould be annexed to the government of
New- York, and that the Weft boundary
of Connedticut fhould be a line drawn
from the mouth of Mamaroneck river
north - north - weft to the line of the
Maflachufets. This fettlement, although
it infringed their charter, was peaceably
acquiefced in by the people of Connecticut;
and not complained of by thofe of New*
York till 1683, when they fet up a claim
founded upon a Dutch grant, /aid to be
made in 162 1, of all the lands from Cape
Cod to Cape Henlopen. In furtherance
of their pretenGons, they had recourfe to
invafion and flander. Of the latter Mr.
Smith has given a fpecimen in his Hiftory
of New- York, where he fays that the

agreement

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CONNECTICUT. 99

agreement in 1664 t€ was founded in igno-
" ranee and fraud becaufe, forfooth,
u a north-north- weft line from Mamaro-
u neck would foon interfed Hudfon's
€i river !" Could any one of common-fenfe
fuppofe the Dutch on the banks of
Hudfon's river, who no doubt were con-
fulted upon the occafion, lefs acquaint-
ed with the courfe of it, than perfons re-
fiding on the banks of the Connedlicut?
Extraordinarily abfurd as fuch an infinu-
ation might be, the people of Connefticut
were aware of its probable weight with
the Duke of York, whofe patent grafped
half their country ; and therefore, know-
ing by whom a conteft muft be decided,
they confented to give up twenty miles
of their land eaft of Hudfon's river, ho-
ping that would content a company of
time-ferving Jacobites and artful Dutch-
men. But neither were they nor their
Patron fatisfied ; and the agreement was
fufpeodftd till 1700, when it was con^

H 2 firmed

ioo HISTORY OF

firmed by William III. About twenty
years afterwards, however, the New-
Yorkers thought the times favourable to
further encroachments $ and at length, in
173 1, they gained 60,000 acres more,
called the Oblong, from Connecticut, pure-
ly becaufe they had Dutch confciences,
and for once reported in England what
was true, that the New-England colonifts
hated Kings, whether natives or foreigners.
Mr. Smith, indeed, p. 238, fays, referring
to Douglas's * Plan of the Britifli Dominions

• Dr. Douglas was a natural ift, and a phyfician
of confiderable eminence in Bofton, where he
never attended any religious worfhip, having
been educated in Scotland with fuch rancorous
hatred againft epifcopacy, that, with his age, it
ripened into open fcepticifm and deifm. However,
his many feverities againft the Epifcopalians, New
Lights, and Quakers, procured him a good name
among the Old Lights, and the mongrel chriftians
of New- York, whofe policy and felf-intereft have
always domineered over confeience and morality.
For thefe reafons, his brother Smith, in his Hif-
tory of New- York, frequently quotes him, to
prove his futile aflertions againft New-England,
New-Jerfey, and Pcnfylvania.

of

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CONNECTICUT. lot

of New-England in fupport of his aflet-
tion, that <f Connecticut ceeded thefe
" 6o,ooa acres to New York, as an equi-
" valentiox lands near the Sound furren-
" dered to Connecticut by New- York/'
Mr. Smith, and all the New- York cabal,
know, that there never were any lands
in the poffeffion of the New-Yorkers fur-
rendered to Connecticut : on the con-
trary, Connecticut was forced, by the
partiality of fovereigns, to give up, not
only Long Ifland and the above-men-
tioned twenty miles eaftof Hudfon's river,
but alfo the Oblong, without any equiva-
valent. How New- York could furrender
lands and tenements which they never
had any right to or poffeffion of, is only
to be explained thus : whereas the people
of New- York did not extend their eaftern
boundary to Connecticut river, they there-
fore (urrendered to Connecticut what they
never had which is like a highwayman's
faying to a Gentleman, Give me ten gui-

^3

loa HISTORY OF

neas, and I will furrender to you your
watch in your pocket.

Thus by degrees has Connefticut loft
a trad: of land fixty miles in length and
above twenty in breadth, together with
the whole of Long Ifland ; and this/in
the firft place by a ftretch of royal prero^
gative, and afterwards by the chicanery of
theircompetitors, who have broken through
all agreements as often as a temporifing
condudt feemed to promife them fuccefs.
Whenever, therefore, a favourable oppor-r
tunity prefents itfelf, it is probable, that
Meflrs. Smith and Livingfton, and other
pateroons in New-York, will find the
laft determination alfo to have been
" founded in ignorance and fraud," and will
be pufliing their claim to all the lands
\yeft of Connefticut river 5 but the op r
portunity muft be favourable indeed,
that allows them to encroach one foot
farther with impunity.

Another ftroke the people of Con-

nedicut

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CONNECTICUT. 103

nedticut received about 1753 has forely
galled them ever fince, and contributed
not a little to their thirft of revenge.
The Governor of New- York was then
appointed « c Captain-General and Com-
u mander in Chief of the militia, and
" all the forces by fep. and land, within
" the Colony of Connecticut, and of all
M the forts and places of ftrength within
* the fame." This violation of the
Charter of Connecticut by George II.
was very extraordinary, as the reins of
Government were then in the hands of
proteftant diflenters, whofe fuppofed vene-
ration for the Houfe of Hanover ope-
rated fo powerfully, that the American
proteftant diflenting minifters were al-
lowed to be inftalled teachers, and to
hold fynods, without taking the oath of
allegiance to the Englifli King, at the
fame time that papifts, and even members
of the Church of England, were not
excufed that obligation. The aggravat-

H 4 ing

io 4 HISTORY OF

ing appointment above mentioned added
no celebrity to the name of George II.
in New-England y nor, however ex-
cufable it may appear in the eyes of
thofe who with me queftion the colo-
nial pretenfions of the people of Con- .
nedticut, was it, upon the ground they
have been allowed to Hand by the Eng-
lifti government, juftifuble in point of
right, nor yet in point of policy, were
the true character of the New-Yorkers
fully known. This argum'ent may be
ufed on more occafions than the prefent.

But Connecticut hath not been the
only fufferer from the reftlefs ambition
of New- York. Twenty miles depth of
land belonging to the Maflachufets and
Newhampfhire provinces, which for T
merly claimed to Hudfon's river, were
cut off by the line that deprived Con-
necticut of the fame proportion of it$
weftern territory. With this acquifition,
furely, the New Yorkers might have

been

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CONNECTICUT. 105

been content; but very lately their wifdom^
if not their " fraud," has prevailed over
the u ighorance " of Newhampftiire ;
which has fuftained another amputation
of its territory, eighty miles in width
and two hundred miles in length ; viz.
all the land between the above mentioned
twenty-mile line and Connecticut river.
The particulars of this tranfaction are in-
terefting. Benning Wentworth, Efq. Go-
vernor of Newhampftiire, by order of his
prefent Majefty, divided, in 1762, the
vaft tradt of land juft mentioned into
about 360 townft)ips,fix miles fquare each.
Thefe townftiips he granted to proprietors
belonging to the four provinces of New
England, one townfhip to fixty propri-
etors ; and took his fees for the fame,
according to royal appointment. Every
townfhip was, in twelve years time, to
have fixty families refiding in it. In
1769 there were fettled on this piece of
land 30,000 fouls, at a very great ex-
pence 1

io6 HISTORY OF

pence; and many townfhips contained
loo families. The New-Yorkers found
means to deceive the King, and obtained
a decree that the Eaft boundary of New
York, after paffing Connecticut and Maf-
fachufets-Bay, ftiould be Connecticut ri-
ver *. This decree annexed to the ju*
rifdi&ion of New- York the faid 360
townfliips ; but was quietly fubmitted to
by the proprietors, fince it was his Ma-
jefty's will to put them under the jurif-
didtion of New- York, tho' they found
themfelves 150 miles farther from their
new capital New- York, than they were
from Portfmouth, their old one. Had
the New-Yorkers refted fatisfied with

the jurifdiftion, which alone the King

* Perhaps their fuccefs was facilitated by the
confideration, that the quit-rent payable to the
Crown in New-York is 2s. 6d. per 100 acres, but
only 9d. in Newhampfhire. The fame may be
faid, with flill more reafon, in regard to the lands
acquired by New- York from Maflachufets-Bay

and Connecticut, where the quit-rent is-> — no-
thing.

had

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CONNECTICUT. 107

had given them, they might have enjoyed
their acquifition in peace $ and New-Eng-
land would have thought they had pof-
fefled fomc juftice, though deftitute of
religious zeal. But the Governor and
General AlTembly of New York, finding
their intereft in Old-England Wronger
than the intereft of the New-Englanders,
determined at once, that, as the King had
given {hem jurifdidtion over thofe 360
townfhips, he had alfo given them the
lands in fee fimple. Sir Henry More, the
Governor, therefore, in 1767, began the
laudable work of regranting thofe townfhips
to fuch people as lived in New-York, and
were willing to pay him 600U York cur-
rency for his valuable name to each pa-
tent. It is remarkable that Sir Harry
made every lawyer in the whole province
a patentee ; but totally forgot the four
public lots, viz, that for the Society for
the Propagation of the Gofpel, thofe for

the church, the firft clergyman, and

fchool

io8 HISTORY OF

fchool in each townfhip, Which had
been referved in Governor Wentworth's
grants. Death flopped his career ; but
Golden, the Lieutenant-Governor, filled
up the meafure of his iniquity, by granting
all the reft on the fame conditions. Sir
Henry More had taken care to grant to his
dear felf one townfhip, fettled with above
80 families, before he died. Coldcn did
the fame for himfelf. The virtuous Wil-
liam Smith, Efq; of New-York, had a
townfhip alfo j and Sir Henry More left
him his executor to drive off the New-
England fettlers. This, however, he at-
tempted in vain. The polite New-York-
ers* having the jurifdidtion, betook them-
felves to law, to get poffeffion of the lands
in queftion, which they called their own;*
and fent the pofle of Albany to ejedt the
pofleflbrsj but this mighty power was
anfwered by Ethan Allen, and the old
proprietors under Governor Wentworth,
who was a King's Governor as well as

Sir

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CONNECTICUT. 109

Sir Henry More : — the Mynheers of Al-
bany were glad to have liberty to return
home alive. — See here the origin of
Ethan Allen 1 — of the Verdmonts, and the
Robbers of the Green Mountains ; a com-
pliment paid by the New-Yorkers to the
fettlers under Governor Went worth j—
who, on that amiable gentleman's death,
had no friend of note left in England,
and were therefore under the necefluy of
defending themfelves, or becoming tenants
to a fet of people who neither feared God
nor honoured the King, but when they
got fomethingby it.— The New-Yorkers
had the grace, after this, to outlaw Ethan
Allen, which rendered him of confe-
quence in New England ; and it would
not furprize me to hear that New- York,
Albany, and all that the Dutchmen pof-
fefs in houfes eaft of Hudfon's River,
were confumed by fire, and the inhabit
tants fent to Heaven, in the ftyle of Dr*
Mather, by the way of Amfterdam. I

muft

<

no HISTORY OF

mull do the New-Englanders the juftice
4o fay, that, though they efteem not high-
ly Kings or Lords, yet they never com-
plained againft his Majefty for what was
done refpedting Verdmont ; on the con-
trary, they ever faid the King would re-
verfe the obnoxious decree, whenever he
fhould be acquainted with the truth of
the cafe, which the New-Yorkers artfully
concealed from his knowledge. — There
are in the four New- England provinces
near 800,000 fouls, and very few uncon-
nected with the fettlements on Verd-
mont; the property of which was duly
vetted in them by Wentworth, the King's
Governor, whofe predeceflbrs and himfelf
had jurifdi&ion over it alfo for 106 years.
They fay, what is very legal and juft, that
his Majefty had a right to annex Verd-
mont to the government of New- York,
but could not give the fee of the land, be-
caufe he had before given it to the New-
Englanders. It appears very unlikely that

thofe

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CONNECTICUT. in

thofe hardy fons of Oliver will ever give
up Verdmont to the New-Yorkers by the
order of Sir Henry More, or any other
Governor, till compelled by the point of
the fword. The Mynheers have more to
fear than the New-Englanders, who will
never yield to Dutch virtue. Van Tromp
was brave; Oliver was brave and fuc-
cefsful too.

Mather, Neal, and Hutchinfon, repre-
fent religion to have been the caufe of the
firft fettlement of New-England; and
the love of gold as the ftimulus of the
Spaniards in fettling their colonies in the
fouthern parts of America ; but, if we
fliould credit the Spanifti hiftorians, we
muft believe that their countrymen were
as much influenced by religion in their
colonial purfuits as were our own. How-
ever, in general, it may be faid, that the
conduct of both parties towards the
aborigines difcovered no principles but
what 4 were difgraceful to human nature.

Murder,

Hz HISTORY OF

Murder, plunder, and outrage, were thb
means made ufe of to convert the be-
nighted favages of the wildernefs to the
fyftem of Him u who went about doing
" good." If we may depend on Abbe
Nicolle, the Spaniards killed of the Aytis,
or the favage nations, in the Ifland of
Hifpaniola, 3,000,000 in feventeen years j
600,000 in Porto Rico, and twenty times
thefe numbers on the continent of South-
America, in order to propagate the Gof-
pel in a favage and howling wildernefs !
The Englifli colonifts have been as in-
duftrious in fpreading the Gofpel in the
howling wildernefs of North America.
Upwards of 180,000 Indians, at leaft,
have been flaughtered in Maffachufets-
Bay and Conne&icut *, to make way for

the

w

* In i68o,the number of Indians, or aborigines,
in the whole Province of Connecticut, was 4000.
This was allowed by the General Aflembly. How
much greater their number was in 1637, may be
eftimated from the accounts given by Dr. Mather,

Mr.

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CONN ECTICUT. 113

the proteftant religion ; and, upon a mode-
rate computation for the reft of the Colo-
nies on the Continent and Weft-India
Iflands, I think one may venture to aflert,
that near 2,000,000 favages have been
dilmiffed from an unpleafant world to

Mr. Neal, Mr. Penhallow, and Mr. Hutchinfon, of
the deaths of Englifli men in the Indian wars for
the fpace of forty-three years. It has been com-
puted, that, from 1637 to 1680, upon an ave-
rage, loo Englifhmen were killed yearly in thofe
wars, and that there were killed, with the fword,
gun, and fmall-pox, 20 Indians for one Englifli-
man. If this calculation is juft, it appears that
the Englifli killed of the Indians, during the
above-mentioned period, 86000 ; to which number
the 4000 Indians remaining in 1680 being added,
it is clear that there were 90,000 Indians in Con-
necticut when Hooker began his holy war upon
them : not to form conjectures upon thofe who
probably afterwards abandoned the country. This
evinces the weaknefs of the Indian mode of fighting
with bows and arrows again ft guns, and the impro-
priety of calling Connecticut an bowling wilder nefs
in 1636, when Hooker arrived at Hertford. The
Englifli in 136 years have not much more than
doubled the number of Indians they killed in 43
years. In 1770 the number of Indians in Con-
ne&icut amounted not to 400 fouls.

I the

ii 4 HISTORY OF

the world of fpirits, for the honour of the
proteftant religion and Englifh liberty,
Neverthelefs, having travelled over moft
parts of Britifh America, I am able to
declare, with great fincerity,. that this
mode of converting the native Indians is
godlike in comparifon with that adopted
for the Africans. Thefe mifcrable people
are firft kidnapped, then put under faws,
barrows and axes of iron % andjorced tbro*
the brick-kiln to Molock. Near half a.
million of them are doomed to hug their
mifery in ignorance, nakednefs, and hun-
ger, among their inafters upper fervants
in Georgia, the Carolina's, Virginia, and
Maryland. The number of thefe- wretch-
es upon the continent and iflands is
fcarce credible; above 100,000 in Ja-
maica alone ; all toiling for the tyrant's
pleafure 5 none feeking other happinefs
than to be fkreened from the torture,
rendered neceflary by that curious Ame-
rican maxim, that men muft be will-
ing

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CONNECTICUT. 115

ing to die before they are jit for the
Kingdom of Heaven. However, what
Muflulman, African, or American, would
not prefer the ftate of a chriftian majler^
who dreads death above all things, to the
ftate of thofe chriftian converts ? Chrifti-
anity has been curfed through the infin*
cerity of its profeflbrs \ even favages de-
fpife its precepts,becaufe they have no in-
fluence on chriftians themfelves. What-
ever religious pretences the Spaniards,
French, or Englifh, may plead for depo-
pulating and repeopling America, it is
pretty clear, that the defire of gold and do-
minion was no impotent in (ligation with
them to feek the weftern continent. The
Britifh leaders in the fchemeof emigration
had felt the humiliating effedts of the feudal
fyftem ; particularly the partial diftribution
of fortunes and honours among children of
the fame venter in the mother country. .
They had feen that this inequality pro-
duced infolence and oppreflion, which

awakened the fentiments of independence

I 2 and

n6 HISTORY OF

and liberty, the inftin&s of every man.
Nature then kindled war againft the op-
preflbrs, and the oppreffors appealed to
prefcription. The event was, Infeli-
city began her reign. Both parties in-
voked Religion, but proftrated themfelves
before the infidious fhrineof Supcrftition,
the life of civil government, and the
finews of war j that expiates crimes
by prayers, ufes ceremonies for good
works, efteems devotion more than vir-
tue, fupports religion without probity,
values honefty lefs than honour, gene-
rates happinefs without morality, and is a
glorious helmet to the ambitious. They
inlifted vaffals with her bounty, to
fight, burn, and deftroy, one another, for
the fake of religion. Behold the fequel !
The vaffals fecured to themfelves more
than Egyptian mafters and laws, both in
the elder and younger brothers; yet,after all,
Superftition told them they enjoyed liberty
and the rights of human nature. Happy
deception ! The Spartan Magnotes,
' tribu-

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 117

tributary to the Turks, are jealous of their
liberties ; while the American Canfez,
near Lake Superior, enjoy liberty com-
pieat without jealoufy. Among the lat-
ter, the confcious independence of
each individual warms his thoughts and
guides his adtions. He enters the fache-
mic dome with the fame fimple freedom
as he enters the wigwam of his brother ;
neither dazzled at the fplendor, nor awed
by the power, of the pofleffor. Here
is liberty in perfedtion ! What Chrijiian
would wi(h to travel 4000 miles to rob
an unoffending favage of what he holds
by the law of nature ? That is not the
Gold or Dominion that any Chrijiian
ever fought for. The firft fettlers of
America had views very different from
thofe of making it a chrijiian country:
their grand aim was to get free from the
infolence of their elder brethren, and to
aggrandize themfelves in a new world,
at the expence of the life, liberty, and

I 3 property,

n8 HISTORY OF

property, of the favages. Had the inva-
ders of New -England fown the feeds of
chrijlian benevolence, even after they
had eradicated the favages and favage
virtues, the world would not have re-
proached them for cljerifhing that all-
grafping fpirit in themfelves, which in
others had driven them from their parent
country : but the feudal fyftem, which
they conficered as an abominable vice in
England, became a fhining virtue on the
other fide of the Atlantic, and would
have prevailed there, had the People
been as blind and tame in worldly, as
they were in fpiritual concerns. But they
had too long heard their leaders declaim
againft the monopoly of lands and titles,
not to difcover that they themfelves were
men, and entitled to the rights of that race
of beings : and they proceeded upon the
fame maxims, which they found alfo a-
mong the Indians, viz. that mankind are,
by nature, upon an equality in point of

rank

4

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CONNECTICUT. 119

rank and poffeffionj that it is incom-
patible with freedom for any particular
defcriptions of men fyftematically to mo-
nopolize honours and property, to the ex-
clufion of the reft; that it was a part
defpicable and unworthy of one freeman
to (loop to the will and caprice of ano-
ther, on account of his wealth and titles,
accruing not from his own, but from the
heroifm and virtue of his anceftors, &c.
&c. The vox populi eftabliflied thefe
maxims in New-England ; and whoever
did not, at leaft, outwardly conform to
them, were not chofen into office ; nay,
though not obje&ible on that fcore, men
very feldom met with re-appointments,
left they fhould claim them by hereditary
right Thus, the levelling principle pre*
vailing, equals were refpedted, and fupe-
riors derided. Europeans, whofe man-
ners were haughty to inferiors and fawn-
ing to fuperiors, were neither loved nor

efteemed. Hence an Englifh traveller

I 4 through

i2o HISTORY OF

through Conne&icut meets with fuperci-
lious treatment at all taverns, as being
too much addi&ed to the ufe of the Im-
perative Mood, when fpeaking to the land-
lord. The anlwer is, '« Command your
own fervants, and not me." The travel-
ler is not obeyed ; which provokes him
to fome expreflions that are not legal in
the colony, about the impertinence of
the landlord, who being commonly a juf-
tice of the peace, the delinquent is im~
mediately ordered into cuftody, fined, or
put into the ftocks. However, after
paying cofts, and promifing to behave
well in future, he pafles on with more

attention to his <c unruly member*' than
to his pleafures. Neverthelefs, if a tra-
veller foftens his tone, and avoids the
Imperative Mood, he will find every civi-
lity from thofe very people, whofe natu-
ral tempers are full of antipathy againft
all who affedt fuperiority over them.
This principle is, by long cuftom, blended

with

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CONNECTICUT. 12c

with the religious dodtrines of the pro-
vince ; and the people believe thofe to be
heretics and Arminians who aflent not to
their fupremacy. Hence they confider
kingly Governors as the fhort horns of
antichrift, and every Colony in a ftate of
perfecution which cannot chufe its own
Governor and Magiftrates. Their aver-
fion to New- York is inconceivably great
on this account, as well as others I have
mentioned. Their jealoufies and fears of
coming under its jurifdidtion make them
heroes in the caufe of liberty, and great
inquifitors into the characters and condudt
of all kingly Governors. They have
feleded Mr. Tryon as the only Eng-
lifti Governor who has acted with juftice
and generofity in refpedt to the rights,
liberties, and feelings, of mankind, while,
they fay, avarice, plunder, and oppreffion,
have marked the footfteps of all the reft.
This charadter Mr. Tryon poffeffed even
after he had fubdued the Regulators in

North-

122 HISTORY OF

North-Carolina and was appointed Go-
vernor of New- York. Some perfon6 af-
fert, indeed, that he fecured the good-will
of Connedticut, by recommending, in
England, the Livingfloris, Schuyler's, and
Smith's, as the beft fubjedls in New- York.
However, Mr. Tryon was undoubtedly
entitled to good report : he was humane
and polite : to him the injured had accefs
without a fee : he would hear the poor
man's complaint,though it wanted the aid
of a poliflied lawyer. Befides,Mr. Tryon
did not think it beneath him to fpeak to a
peafant in the ftreet, or to flop his coach
to give people an opportunity to let him
pafs. His objedt was not to make his
fortune, nor did he negledt the intereft of
the people. He embelli(hed not his
language with oaths and curfes, nor fpent
the Sabbath at taverns. 'Tis true, Mr.
Tryon went not to meeting ; but he was
forgiven this offence, becaufe he went to

* church : the people of New - England

having

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CONNECTICUT. 1*3

having fo much candour as to believe a
man may be a good fort of a man, if he
goes to church, and is exemplary in his
words and deeds. I have not the ho-
nour of being known to Mr. Tryon,
but, from what I know of bim, I muft
fay, without meaning to offend any other*
that he was the beft Governor and the moft
pleafing gentleman that I ever faw in a
civil capacity in America ; and that I can-
not name any Briton fo well calculated to
govern in Connecticut, with eafe and fafety
to himfelf, as he is. One reafon for this
aflertion is, that Mr. Try on has a punc*
tilious regard for his word $ a quality,
whicb,tho' treachery is the ftaple commo-
dity of the four New-England Provinces,
the people greatly admire in a Governor,
and which, they fay, they have feldom
found in royal Governors in America.
1 11 j .. 1 1 j .11 . But whither am I wandering ?
I beg pardon for this digreffion, though
in favour of fo worthy a man.

Of

124 HISTORY OF

Of the fhare Connecticut has taken, in
common with her fifter colonies, in co-
operating with the Mother -country againft
her natural enemies, it is fuperfluous to
fay any-thing here, that being already
fufficiently known. I (hall therefore
proceed to a defcription of the country,
its towns, produdtions, &c. together with
the manners, cuftoms, commerce, &c.
of the inhabitants, interfperfing fuch hif-
ftorical and biographical anecdotes, as may
occur to me in the relation, and have a
tendency to elucidate matter of fadt, or
characterize the people.

The dimenfions of Connecticut, ac-
cording to its prefent allowed extent, are,
from the Sound, on the fouth, to the
Maffachufets line,on the north, about fixty
miles ; and from Biram river and New-
York line, on the weft, to Narraganfet
Bay, Rhode- Ifland, and Maffachufets-Bay,
on the eaft, upon an average, about 100

miles.

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CONNECTICUT. 125

miles. It is computed to contain
5,000,000 acres.

Many creeks, inlets, bays, and rivers
interfedl the coaft. Three of the laft,
dividing the colony into as many parts, I
lhall particularly notice. They all run
from north to fouth.

The eaftern river is called the Thames
as far as it is navigable, which is only to
Norwich, 14 miles from its mouth.
There dividing, the greateft branch, call-
ed Quinnibaug, rolls rapidly from its
fource 100 miles diftant though many
towns and villages, to their great plea-
fantnefs and profit. On it are many
mills and iron-works ; and in it various
kinds of fi(h ; but no falmon, for want of
proper places to nourifli their fpawn.

The middle river is named Connec-

■

ticut, after the great Sachem to whom
that part of the province through which
it runs belonged. This vaft river is 500
miles long, and four miles wide at its

mouth :

n6 HISTORY OP

mouth : its channel, or inner banks, irt
general, half a mile wide. It takes its
rife from the White Hills, in the north of
New-England, where alfo fprings the
river Kennebec. Abote 500 rivulets,
which iflue from lakes, ponds, and
drowned lands, fall into it : many of
them are larger than the Thames at
London. In March, when the rain arid
fun melt the fnow and ice, efcch ftream is
overcharged, and: kindly haftens to this
great river, to overflow, fertilife, and pre-
serve its trembling meadows. They lift
up enormous cakes of ice, burfting from
their frozen beds with threatening inten-
tions of plowing up the frighted earth,
and carry them rapidly down the fells,
where they are dafhed in pieces and rife
in mift. Except at thefe falls, of which
there are five, the flrft fixty miles from itfc
mouth, the river is navigable throughout.
In its northern parts are 3 great bendings,
called cohoffes, about 100 miles afunder.

Two

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CONNECTICUT; ix 7

Txno huoifced miles from the Sound is a
narrow of fiye, yard? only, formed by two
{helving mountains of folidrock, whofe
tops intercept the clouds. Thro'this chafm
are compelled to pafs all the waters which
in the time of the floods bury the northern
country. At the upper cohos the river
then fpreads 24 miles wide, and for five
or fix weeks (hips of war might fail over
lands, that afterwards produce the greateft
crops of hay and grain in all America.
People who can bear the fight, the groans,
the tremblings, and furly motion of water,
trees, and ice, through this, awful paflage,
view with aftonifhment one of the great-
eft phenomenons in nature. Here water
is confolidated, without froft, by prefiure,
by fwiftnefs, between the pinching, fturdy
rocks, to fuch a,degree of induration, that
no iron crow can be forced into it : — here
iron, lead, and cork, have one common
weight: — here, fteady as time, and harder
than marble, ths-ftream paffes irrefiftible,

if

ii8 HISTORY OF

if not fwift, as lightning:— the eledtric
fire rends trees in pieces with no greater
eafe, than docs this mighty water. The
paflage is about 400 yards in length,
and of a zigzag form, with obtufe cor-
ners. The following reprefentation will
affift the reader in forming an idea of it.

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT, 129

At high water are carried through this
flraight marts and other timber with incre-
dible fwiftnefs, and fometimes with fafetyj
but when the water is too low, the marts,
timber, and trees, ftrike on one fide or
the other, and, though of the largcft fize,
are rent, in one moment, into (hivers, and
fplintered like a broom, to the amazement
of fpe&ators. The meadows, for many
miles below, are covered with immenfe
quantities of wood thus torn in pieces,
which compel the hardieft travellers to re-
flea, how feeble is man, and how great
that Almighty who formed the light-
nings, thunders, agd the irrefiftible power
and ftrength of waters !

No living creature was ever known to
pafs through this narrow, except an In-
dian woman, who was, in a canoe t
attempting to crofs the river above it, but
carelefsly lufFered herfelf to fall within the
power of the current. Perceiving her dan-
ger, fhe took a bottle of rum (he had with

K her,

i 3 o HISTORY OF

her, and drank the whole of it ; then lay
down in her canoe, to meet her deftiny.
She marvelloufly went through fafely,
and was taken out of the canoe fome miles
below, quite intoxicated, by fome Eng-
liihmen. Being afked how (he could
be fo daringly imprudent as to drink fuch
a quantity of rum with the profpeft of
inftant death before her, the fquaw, as
well as her condition would let her,
replied, " Yes, it was too much rum for
" once, to be fure ; but I was not willing
u to lofe a drop of it : fo I drank it, and
" you fee I have faved all."

Some perfons affert that falmonhave been
caught above this narrow, while others
deny it. Many have obferved faimon
attempt to pafs in the time of floods,
which certainly is the beft and likelieft
time,as, from the height of the water,and
the (helving of the rocks, the paflageis then
broader ; but they were always thrown
back, and generally killed. It is not to be

fuppofed

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CONNECTICUT. 131

fuppofed that any fifh could pafs with the
ftream alive Above this narrow there
is plenty of fifh both in fummer and
winter, which belong to the lakes or
ponds that communicate with the river :
below it are the greateft abundance and
variety caught or known in North Ame-
rica. No falmon are found in any river
to the weftward of this.

■

Except the Mifllilppi and St. Lau-
rence, the Connedticut is the largeft river
belonging to the Englifli plantations in
the New World. On each fhore of it are
two great roads leading from the mouth
2Co miles up the country, lined on both
fides with the beft-built houfes in Ame-
rica, if not in the world. It is com-
puted, that the country on each bank of
this river, to a depth of fix miles, and a
length of 300, is fufricient for the main-
tenance of an army of 100,000 men. In
lhort, the neighbouring fpacious and fer-
tile meadow, arable, and other lands,

K 2 com-

i 3 2 HISTORY OF

combined with this noble river, are
at once the beauty and main fupport of
all New-England,

The weftern river is navigable and
called Stratford only for ten miles, where
Derby ftands ; and then takes the name
of Ofootonoc. It is 50 miles weft from
Conntdticut river, and half a mile wide.
It rifes in the Verdmonts, above 200
miles from the fca, and travels 300
miles through many pleafant towns and
villages. The adjacent meadows are
narrow, and the country in general very
hilly. With fome expence it might be
made navigable above 100 miles. It fur-
niflies fiih of various kinds, and ferves
many mills and iron-works.

Two principal bays, named Saflacus or
New-London, and Quinnipiog or New-
haven, run five or fix miles into the coun-
try, and are met by rivers which for-
merly bore the Sachems names.

It has already been obferved, that Con-

nedicut

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CONNECTICUT, 133

ne&icut was fettled under three diftindt
independent Governors ; and that each
Dominion, fince thtir union in 1664, has
been divided into two counties.

The Kingdom of Sassacus, Sachem
ofthePcquods, a warlike nation, forms the
counties of New-London and Windham,
which contain about 10,000 houfes, and
60,000 inhabitants. Saffacus was brave
by nature. The found of his coming
would fubdue nations, at the fame
time that Juftice would unbend his bow,
and Honour calm the thunder of his
tongue. Dr. Mather, Mr. Neal, and
others, have endeavoured to blaft his fame
by proving him to have been the ag-
grcflbr in the bloody wars which ended in
his ruin. They have inftanced the mur-
der of Captain Stone and others, to
juftify this war, but carefully conceal-
ed the affaflination of Quinnipiog, the
treachery of Mr. Elliot (the Maffachufets-
Bay Apoflle of the Indians), and the in-

K 3 famous

i-34 HISTORY OF

famous villainy of Hooker, who fpread
death upon the leaves of his Bible, and
ftruck Connedicote mad with difeafe.
They alfo conceal another important
truth, that the Englifh had taken poffef-
lion of lands belonging to Saflacus, with-
out purchafe or his confent. Befides,
Saflacus had too much fagacity to let
chriflian fpies, under the appellation of
gofpel mifiionarics, pafs through- hi* coun-
try. He had feen the confequences of
admitting fuch minifters of chriftianity
from Bofton, Hertford, &c. among his
neighbouring nations, and gtneroufly
warned them to keep their gofpel of peace
from his dominions. The invaders of
this howling wildernefs, finding their
favage love detefted, and that the Pequods
were not likely to fall a facrifice to
their hypocrify, proclaimed open war
with fword and gun. The unfortunate
SafTacus met his fate. Alas! he died —
not like Conne&icote, nor Quinnipiog—?

but

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CONNECTICUT. 135

but in the field of battle j and the free-
dom of his country expired with his final
groan. This mighty conquer ft: was achiev-
ed by the colonifts of Connecticut, with-
out the aid of the Mdffuchufets ; never-
thelefs, Mr. Neal and others have afcrib-
ed the honour of it to the latter, with a
view of magnifying their confequence,
ever Mr. Neal's grand objedt.

The county of New-London abounds
chiefly with wool, butter, cheefe, and In-
dian corn; and contains eight towns, all
which I (hall defcribe.

New-London has the river Thames
on the eaft, and the bay of its own name
on the fouth, and refembles Iflington. Its
port and harbour are the beft in the colony.
The church, the meeting, and court-houfe,
are not to be boafted of; the fort is tri-
fling. The houfes in this, as in all the
towns in the province, are infulated, at

K 4 the

136 HISTORY OF

the diftance of three, four, or five yards
one from the other, to prevent th? ra-
vages of fire. That of John Winthrop,
Efqj is the beft in the province. The
townfliip is ten miles fcjuare, and com-*
prizes five parifhes, one of which is epif-
copal. Abimeleck, a defcendant of the
firfl. Englifh-made king of Mohegin, re*
fides with his fmall party in this townfhip.
He is a king to whom the people pay
fome refpedt, — becaufe they made him fo.

The people of this town have the ere*
dit of inventing tar and feathers as a pro-
per punifhment for herefy. They firft
infli&ed it on quakers and anabaptifts.

New-London has a printing prefs,
much exercifed in the bufinefs of pam*
phlets, fermons, and newfpapers. It is em-
ployed by the Governor and Company,
and is the oldeft and beft in the colony,
Newhaven, Hertford, and Norwich, alfo,
have each a printing prefs ; fo that the
people are plentifully fupplied with news,

politics,

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CONNECTICUT. 137

politics, and polemical divinity. A

very extraordinary circumftance happened
here in 1740. Mr. George Whitefield
paid them a vifit, and preached of riglh
teoufnefs, temperance^ and a judgment to
to come, which roufed them into the be-
lief of an heaven and an hell. They be-
came as children wean e d and pliable as
melted wax, and with great eagernels
cried out, What Jhall we do to be faved ?
The preacher, then in the pulpit, thus
anfwered them, ,c Repent — do violence
to no man— part with your felf-righteouf-
nefs, your filk gowns, and laced petti-
coats — burn your ruffles, necklaces, jewels,
rings, tinfelled waiftcoats, your morality
and bifhops books, this very night, or
damnation will be your portion before the
morning-dawn." The people, rather thro*
fear than faith, inftantly went out on the
eommon, and prepared for heaven, by
burning all the above enumerated goods,
excepting that of ftlf-righteoufnefs, which

was

14© HISTORY OF

feet to the weft. — The following couplet
was written by a traveller on the fteeple :

" They're fo perverfe and oppofite,
" As if they built to God in fpitc."

The reafons for the Angular cuftom of
burying the dead with their feet to the weft,
are two, and fpecial : firft, when Chrift
begins his millcnarian reign, he will come
from the weft, and his faints will be in a
ready pofture to rife and meet him :
fecondly, the papifts and episcopalians
bury their dead with their feet to the
caft.

Was I to give a charadter of the people
of Norwich, I would do it in the words
of the famous Mr. George Whitefield,
(who was a good judge of man kind,) in his
farewel-fermon to them a fhort time be-
fore his death; viz. u When I firft
preached in this magnificent houfe, above
20 years ago, I told you, that you were
part bead, part man, and part devil $
at which you were offended. I have fince

thought

Digitized by

CONNEETICUT. 141

thought much about that expreflion, and
confefs that for once I was miftaken. I
therefore take this laft opportunity to
correct my error. Behold ! I now tell you,
that you are not part man and part beaft,
but wholly of the devil."

■

Lyme ftands on the eaft fide of Con-
nedticut river, oppofite Saybrook ; and
refembles Lewiflham. The townfhip is
16 miles long, and 8 wide; and forms

*

four pariflies.

Saybrook is fituated on the weft fide of
Connecticut river, 20 miles weft from
New-London, and refembles Batterfea.
The townfhip is twenty miles long and
fix wide, and forms four parifhes. This
town was named after the Lords Say and
Brook, who were faid to claim the coun-
try, and fent, in 1634, a Governor and
a large number of people from England
to build a fort and fettle the colony. See

pp. 9 — 18.

ik«2 Hnsro R Y .OF

hpp. 9 — 18. It was rpriricipally owing
to.nhis fort that Hertford and Newhaven
oinadc good their fettlcments : it prevent-
jed iSaffacus from giving timely aid to
,fCorine<aicote and-Quinnipiog.

Saybrook is greatly fallen from its an-
cient grandeur j but is, notwithftanding,
-drefortcd to With great veneration, as the
^parejit town of the whole calony. The
ztocribs of the ifif ft fettlers arelheld 'facred,
?md i travellers feldom ;pafs them, without
the compliment of a figh .©rtran On
one moffy ftone is written,

A j -"'Here pride is calm'd, and deariris^I^fe. ,,

rr.. iln 1709, this town was honoured by
saiconventfon of -contending independent
-divittes, who were pleafed with no con-
■ iftkution in church or ftate.— This rriulti-
bOKte of fe^arians, after long debates,
-.jttM|li(hed a book, called," The Saybrook
i Platform, containing the dodtrines arid
bnoles of thb churches in Connecticut.
:&hexm\y irovbky in this fyftem is, • that

- ' Chrift

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. i 43

Chriftfoas delegated his minifterial, king-
ly, and prophetical power, one half to the
people, and the other half to the mini-
(hsrs. This proportion may be thought
in Europe a very ftrange one ; but, if it
be recolledted, that the people in the pro-
vince claimed all power in heaven and
on earth, and that theminifters had no
other ordination thah what came from
the people, it will appear, that the mini-
fters hereby gained from the people ooe
half of their power. From this article
originated the pradHce of the right hand
of fellowfhip at the ordination of a mifli-
fler. No one can be a minifter, till he
receives the right hand of the meffenger
who reprefents fix deacons from fix con-
gregations. The conclufion of this re-
verend and venerable body is, c< The
« Bible is our rule/'

Mr. Neal fays, p. 610, " That every
u particular fociety is a compleat church,
" having power to exercife all ecclefiafti-

" cal

144 HISTORY OF

" cal jurifdidiion, without appeal to any
€< claffis : — they allow of fynods for coun-
u cil and advice, but not to exercife the
$t power of the keys."

If Mr, Neal had taken the trouble to
read the Hiftory of the Church of Mafla-
chufets-Bay, written by the Reverend
Mr. John Wife, a minifter of that church,
he would have found that the contrary to
all he has advanced is the truth. The
people of that province held the keys from
i6ao to 1650: then the minifters got
poffeffion of them by their own vote,
which was palled into a law by the Ge-
neral Affembly.. The vote was, " There
'* cannot be a minifter, unlefs he is or-
u dained by minifters of Jefus Chrift."
Thus commenced ordination by minifters
in New-England. The people were alarm-
ed at the lofs of the keys, and alked the
minifters who had ordained them? The
minifters anfwered, The people. Then,
replied the people, we are the minifters

of .

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CONNECTICUT* 145

of Jefus Chrift, or you are not minifters ;
and we will keep the power. A violent
conteft enfued between the people and the
minifters; but the latter, by thtr help of the
General Aflembly, retained the power of
the keys, and inftituted three ecclefiaftical
courts, viz. 1. The Minifterand his Com-
manicants; 2. The Aflbciation ; and, 3.
The Synod. There lies an appeal from
one to the other of thefe courts, all which
exercife Co much ecclefiaftical power, that
few are eafy under it. The firft court
fufpends from the communion; the fe-
cond re- hears the evidence, and confirms
or fets afide the fufpenfion ; the fynod,
after hearing the cafe again, excommuni-
cates or difcharges the accufed. From
this laft judgment no appeal is allowed
by the fynod. The excommunicated
perfon has no other refource than petition-
ing the General AfTcmbly of the province,
which fometimes grants relief, to the
great grief of the fynod and minifters.

L But

i 4 6 HISTORY OF

But the reprefcntatives commonly pay
dear for overlooking the conduit of the
fynod at the next election.

The people of Connecticut have adopt-
ed the fame mode of difcipline as prevails
in Maffachufets-Bay ; but call a fynod a

Confociation.

To fliew that the tynods are not quite
fo harmlefs as Mr. Neal reports, I will
give an inftance of their authority exer-
cifed in Connecticut in 1758. A Mr.
Merret, of Lebanon, having loft bis
wife, with whom he had lived childlefs
40 years, went to Rhodc-Ifland, and
married a niece of his late wife, which
was agreeable to the laws of that province.
By her having a child, Mr. Merret of-
fered the fame for baptifm to the mi-
nifter of whofe church he was a mem-
ber. The minifter refufed, becaufe it
was an inceftuous child ; and cited Mer-
ret and his wife to appear before himfelf
and his church upon an indidtment of

inceft.

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 147 .

inceft. Merret appeared 5 the verdift
was, Guilty of inceft. He appealed to
the affociation, which alio found him
guilty of inceft. He again appealed to
the confociation, and was again found
guilty of inceft. — Merret and his wife were
then ordered to feparate, and to make a
public confeffion, on pain of excommu-
nication. Merret refufed ; whereupon
theminifter read the aft of excommunica-
tion, while the deacons (hoved Merret
out of the meeting-houfe. Being thus
caft out of the fynagogue, and debarred
from the converfation of any-one in the
parifti, it was well faid by Mr. Merret,
*' If this be not to exercife the power of the
u keys, I know not what it is." The poor
man fooD after died of a broken heart,
and was buried in his own garden by fuch
chriftian brethren as were not afraid of
the mild puiflance of the confociation.

Mr. Neal fays, alfo, p. 609, after evin-
cing his jealoufy at the growth of the

L 2 church

I

I

H 8 HISTORY OF

■

church of England in New - England,
" If the religious liberties of the plants-
€i tbns are invaded by the fetting up of
u fpiritual courts, &c. they will feel th,e
" fad effedls of it."" In this fentiment I
agree with Mr. Neal ; but, unluckily,
he meant the bifhop's courts, and I mean
the courts of fynods, compofed of his
<c meek, exemplary, and learned divines of
New-England," but who are more fevere
and terrible than ever was the ftar-cham-
ber under the influence of Laud, or the
inquifuion of Spain. The ecclefiaflieaj
courts of New-England have, in the courfe
of 1 60 years, bored the tpngues with
hot needles, cut off the ears, branded
the foreheads of, and banifhed, imprifon-
ed, and hanged, more quakers, baptifts,
adamites, ranters, epifcopalians, fpr wh^t
they call herefy, blafphemy, and witch-
craft, than there are inftances of perfecu-
tion in Fox's book of Martyrology, or
under the bifhojps of England fince the

death

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CONNECTICUT. 149

death of rtenry VIII. And yet IVlr.
Neal was afraid of fpiritual courts, and
admired the pradtice of the New-England
churches, who only excommunicate of- *
fenders, delivering them over to the civil
magiftrate to torttire and ruin. If I re-
member right, I ohce faw the inquifitioft
in Portugal adt after the very fame man-
ner, when the fricft faid, cc We deal with
" the foul, and the civil magiftrate with
■' the body."

Time not having deftroyed the walls
of the fort at Say brook, Mr. Whitefield,
in 1740, attempted to bring them down,
as Jo(hua brought down thofe of Jerico,
to convince the gaping multitude of his
divine miflion. He walked feven times
round the fort with prayer and rams-
horns blowing — he called on the angel of
Joftma to come and do as he had done at
the walls of Jericho ; but the angel was
deaf, or on a journey, or afl-ep; and
therefore the walls remained. Here-

L 3 upon

i 5 o HISTORY OF

upon George cried aloud, u This town is
accurfed for not receiving the meflenger
of the Lord ; therefore the angel is de-
parted, and the walls (hall (land as a mo-
nument of a finful people." Ucjhook of
the duji of bis feet again ft them, and de-
parted, and went to Lyme.

Kxllingfwortb is ten miles weft from
Saybrook, lies on the fea, and refembles
Wandfworth. The townihip is eight
miles fquare, and divided into two pa-
rifhes. This town is noted for the refi-
dencc of the Rev. Mr. Elliot, common-
ly called Dr. Elliot, who difcovered the
art of making fteel out of (and, and
wrote a book on hu&andry, which will '
fecure him a place in the Tepiple of
Fame.

Windham, the fecond county in the
ancient kingdom of Saflacus, or colony of
Saybrook, is hilly ; but, the foil being rich,

ha?

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CONNECTICUT. 151

has excellent butter, cheefe, hemp, wheat,
Indian corn, and horfcs. Its towns are
twelve.

Windham refembles Rumford, and
ftands on Winnomantic river. Its meet,
ing-houfe is elegant, and has a fteeple,
bell, and clock. Its court- houfe is
fcarcely to be looked upon as an orna-
ment. The townfhip forms four pa-
rishes, and is ten miles fquare.

Strangers are very much terrified at
the hideous noife made on fummer even-
ings by the vaft numbers of frogs in
the brooks and ponds. There are about
thirty different voices among them j fome
of which refemble the bellowing of a
bull. The owls and whipperwills com-
plete the rough concert, which may be
heard feveral miles. Perfons accuftomed
to fuch ferenades are not difturbed by
them at their proper ftations ; but one
night, in July, 1758, the frogs of an arti-

L 4 ficiid

ij2 HISTORY OF

ficial pond, three miles fquare, and about
fiye from Windham, finding the water
dried up, left the place in a body, and
marched, or rather hopped, towards
Winnomantic river. They were under
the neccffity of taking the road and go-
ing through the town, which they en-
tered about midnight. The bull frogs
were the leaders, and the pipers followed
without number. They filled a road 40
yards wide for four miles in length, and
were for fcveral hours pafling through
the town, unufually clamorous. The in*
habitants were equally perplexed and
frightened : fome expefied to find an army
of French and Indians; others feared an
earthquake, and diflblution of nature. The
conftcrnation was univerfal. - Old and
young, male and female, fled naked from
their beds with worfe (hriekings than
thofe of the frogs, The event was fatal to
feveral women. The men, after a flight
of half amile, in which they met with many

broken

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CONNECTICUT. 153

broken (hins, finding no enemies in pur-
fuit of them, made a halt, and fum-
moned refolution enough to venture back
to their wives and children ; when they
diftindtly heard from the enemy's camp
thefe words, Wight, Helderken, Dier,
T£te. This laft they thought meant
treaty 5 and plucking up courage, they
fent a triumvirate to capitulate with the
fuppofed French and Indians. Thefe
three men approached in their Hurts, and
begged to fpeak with the General ; but
it being dark, and no anfwer given, they
were forely agitated for fome time be-
twixt hope and fear \ at length, however,
they difcovered that the dreaded ini-
mical army was an army of thirfiy frogs
going to the river for a little water.

Such an incurfion was never known
before nor lince \ and yet the people of
Windham have been ridiculed for their
timidity on this occafion. I verily be-
lieve an army under the Duke of Marl-
borough

154 HISTORY OF

borough would, under like circumftances,
have afted no better than they did.

In 1768, the inhabitants on Connec-
ticut river were as much alarmed at an
army of caterpillers, as thofe of Wind*
ham were at the frogs ; and no one
found reafon to jeft at their fears. Thofe
worms came in one night and covered
the earth on both fides of that river, to
an extent of three miles in front and two in
depth. They marched with great fpeed,
and eat up every-thing green for the
fpace of 100 miles, in fpite of rivers,
ditches, fires, and the united efforts of
1000 men. They were, in general,
two inches long, had white bodies cover-
ed with thorns, and red throats. When
they had finiflied their work, they went
down to the river Conne&icut, where
they died, poifoning the waters until
they were waflied into the fea. This
calamity was imputed by fojpe to thp
vaft number of trees and logs lying in the

creeks*

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CONNECTICUT. i 55

creeks, and to the cinders, fmoke, and
fires made to confume the wafte wood,
for three or four hundred miles up the
Connedticut ; while others thought it au-
gurated future evils fimilar to thofc in
Egypt. The inhabitants of the Verd-
monts would unavoidably have perifhed
by famine in confequence of the devalua-
tion of the r e worms, had not a remarkable
providence filled the wildernefs with wild
pigeons, which were kiljed by (ticks as
they fat on the branches of trees in fuch
multitudes, that 30,000 people lived on
them for three weeks. If a natural caufe
may be afligned for the coming of the
frogs and caterpillars, yet the vifit of the
pigeons to a wildernefs in Auguft has been
neceflarily afcribed to an interpolation of
infinite power and goodnefs. Happy
will it be for America, if the foiling pro-
vidence of Heaven produces gratitude,
repentance, and obedience, amongft her
children !

Lebanon

156 HISTORY OF

Lebanon lies on the weft fide of
Winnomantic river. Its beft ftreet, which
has good houfes on both fides, is one
mile long, and 160 \ards wide. An
elegant meieting, with a fteeple and bell, .
ftands in the center. The towhfhij)
is ten miles fquare, and forms four pa-
rishes. This towii was formerly famous
for an Indian fchool under the conduft
of thfe Reverend Dr. Eleazet Wheelock,
whofe great zeal for the fpiritual good of
the favages in the wildernefs induced him
to follicit a collection through England.
Having met with fuccefs, his fchool at
Lebanon became a college in the Province
of Newhampfhire; where he has converted
his godlinefs into gain, and promifes fair
to fexcufe Government from the expence
of a fuperintendent of Indian affairs.

Coventry lies on the fame river : the
houfes are ftraggling. The townfhip is
ten miles fquare, and confifts of two pa-
rities.

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CONNECTICUT. 157

rjfhes. Here are two ponds, the one thcee*
the other four miles long, and half as wide,
well filled with mackarel and other fiih.

*

Mansfield lies eaft of Coventry, on
Winnomantic and Fundy rivers : the
houfes are fcattcred. The townfliip is
eight miles fquare, and divided into two
pariflies.

Union, and Willington lie on Win-
nomantic river, forming two parifhes.
Each townfliip is fix miles fquare.

Afoford lies on the river Fundy, in a
townfliip ten miles fquare, and forming
three parifties. The people of the town
have diftinguiftied themfelves by a ftrift
enforcement of the colony laws againft
heretics, and epifcopalians, for not attend-
ing their meetings on the Sahbath.

Wood/lock ^ lies on Quinnibaug, and re-

fembles

x 5 8 HISTORY OF

fcmblcs Finchley. The townftiip is ten
miles fquare, and divided into three pa-
lifties. — Woodftock h^d the honour to
give birth to the Rev. Thomas Bradbury
Chandler, D. D. a learned Divine of the
Church of England, and well known in
the literary world.

Killing/ley lies eaft of Woodftock,
The townfliip, twenty miles long, and
fix wide, forms three parifhes.

*

Pomfret ftands on Quinnibaug river,
and refembles Batterfea. The townfliip
is twelve miles fquare, and forms four
parifhes, one of which is epifcopaL —
Fanaticifm had always prevailed in the
county of Windham over chriftian mo-
deration; when, about the year 1770, after
many abufes, the epifcopalians found a
friend in God free Malebone, Efq. who
built on his own eftate an elegant church,

which was patronized by the Society for

the

<

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CON NECTICUT. 159

the Propagation of the Gofpcl in foreign
Parts, who appointed a clergyman.

We read that David flew a lion and a
bear, and afterwards that Saul trufted
him to fight Goliath. In Pomfret lives
Colonel Ifrael Putnam, who flew a (he-
bear and her two cubs with a billet of
wood. The bravery of this a&ion
brought him into public notice : and, it
feems, he is one of Fortune's favourites.
The ftory is as follows : — In 1754, a large
(he-bear came in the night from her den,
which was three miles from Mr. Putnam's
houfe, and took a fow out of a pen of his.
The fow, by her fqueaking, awoke Mr.
Putnam, who haftily ran in his (hirt to
the poor creature's relief ; but before he
could reach the pen, the bear had left it,
and was trotting away with the fow in her
mouth. Mr, Putnam took up a billet of
wood, and followed the fcreamings of the
fow, till he came to the foot of a moun-
tain, where the den was. Dauntlefs he

entered

I

\6a HISTORY OF

entered the horrid cavern ; and, after
walking and crawling upon his hands and
knees for fifty yards, came to a roomy
qell; where the bear met him with great
fury. He faw nothing but the fire of
her eyes ; but that was fufficient for our
hero : he accordingly direfted his blow,
which at once proved fatal to the bear,
3pd faved his own life at a moft critical
moment. Putnam then difcovered and
killed two cubs and having, though in
Egyptian darknefs, dragged them and the
dead fow, one by one, out of the cave, he
went home, and calmly reported to his fa-
mily what had happened. The neighbours
declared, on viewing the place by torch*

light, that his exploit exceeded thofe of
Sampfon or David. — Soon afterwards, the
General Aflemby appointed Mr k Putnam
a Lieutenant in the army marching againft
Canada. His courage and good conduct
raifed him to the rank of Captain the
next year. The third year he was made

a Major;

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CONNECTICUT. 161

a Major; and the fourth a Colonel. Put-
nam and Rogers were the heroes through
the laft war. Putnam was fo hardy, at a
time when the Indians had killed all his
'men, and completely hemmed him in
upon a river, as to leap into the ftream,
which in a minute carried him down a
ftupendous fall, where no tree could pafs
without being torn in pieces. The In-
dians reafonably concluded that Putnam,
their terrible enemy, was dead, and made
their report accordingly at Ticonderoga;
but foon after, a fcouting party found
their fad miftake in a bloody ren-
contre. Some few that got off declared
that Putn itn was yet living, and that he
was the firft fon of Hobbamockow, and
therefore immortal. However, at length,
the Indians took this terrible warrior
prifoner, and tied him to a tree ; where
he hung three days without food or
drink. They did not attempt to kill him

for fear of offending Hobbamockow ; but

M they

i6z HISTORY OF

they fold him to the French at a great
price. The name of Putnam was more
alarming to the Indians than cannon; and
they never would fight him after his
efcape from the falls. He was afterwards
redeemed by the Englifti.

Plainfield and Canterbury lie on Qui-
nibaug river, oppofite to one another,
and have much the appearance of Le-
wifham. Each townfliip is 8 miles
fquare, and forms two parifhes.

Voluntown lies on a fmall river, and,
refemblcs Finchley Common. The town-
(hip is 15 miles long, and 5 wide, and
forms three parities, one of which is
Prefbyterian. This fed has met with as
little chriftian charity and humanity in
this hair-brain'd county as the Anabap-
tifts, Quakers, and Churchmen. The
Sober DiJJenters of this town, as they flile
themfelves, will not attend the funeral
of a Prefbyterian.

The

CONNECTICUT. 163

The Kingdom of Connecticote
forms two counties, viz. Hertford and
Litchfield, which contain about 15,000
houfes, and 120,000 inhabitants.

The county of Hertford excels the
reft in tobacco, onions, grain of all forts,
hay, and cyder. It contains twenty-one
towns, the chief of which I (hall de-
fcribe, comparing the reft to towns near
London.

HERTFORD town is deemed the ca-
pital of the province : it ftands 40 miles
from Say brook, and the fame diftance
from Newhaven, on the weft bank of
Connecticut river, and is formed into
fquares. The townfhip is 20 miles from
eaft to weft, and fix in breadth, com-
prizing fix parifties, one of which is epif-
copal.

The houfes are partly of brick and
partly of wood, well built, but, as I have

M 2 obferved

164 HISTORY OF

obferved in general of the towns in Con-
nedticut, do not join. King's- Street is
two miles long, and 30 yards wide ; well-
paved, and cut in two by a fmall river,
over which is a high bridge. The town
is half a mile wide. A grand court-
houfe, and two elegant meetings, with
fteeples, bells, and clocks, adorn it. In
1760, a foundation of quarry- ftone was
laid for an epifcopal church ia this town,
at the expence of near 300/. on which
occafion the Epifcopalians had a mortify-
ing proof that the prefent inhabitants in-
herit the fpirit of their anceftors. Sa-
muel Talcot, Efq. one of the Judges
of the County-Court, with the afliftance
of a mob, took away the ftoncs, and with
them built a houfe for his fon. What
added to fo meritorious an aftion was, its
being juftified by the General Aflembly
and the Confociation.

In 1652, this town had the honour of
executing Mrs. Greenfmith, the firft

witch

CONNECTICUT. 165

witch ever heard of in America. She
was accufed in the indi&ment of pradti-
ling evil things on the body of Ann Cole,
which did not appear to be true ; but
the Reverend Mr. Stone, and other mi-
nifters, fwore that Greenfmith had con-
fcfled to them that the devil had had
carnal knowledge of her. The court then
ordered her to be hanged upon the indidt-
ment. — Surely none of thofe learned di-
vines and ftatefmen ftudied in .the Temple
or Lincoln's- Inn ! — It (hould feem, that
every dominion or town(hip was poffefled
of an ambition to make itfelf famous in
hiftory. The fame year, Springfield, not
to be outdone by Hertford, brought Hugh
Parfons to trial for witchcraft, and the
jury found him guilty : but Mr. Pincheon,
the judge, had fome underftanding, and
prevented his execution till the matter
was laid before the General Court at Bof-
ton, who determined that he was not
guilty of witchcraft. The truth was,

M 3 Parfons

166 HISTORY OF

Parfons was blefled with a fine perfon and
genteel addrefs, infomuch that the wo-
men could not help admiring him above
every other man in Springfield, and the
men could not help hating him : — fo
that there were witnefles enough to
fwear that Parfons was a wizard, — be-
caufe he made females love and males
hate him.

In Hertford are the following curio-
fities : i. An houfe built of American
oak in 1640, the timbers of which are
yet found, nay almoft petrified : in it was
born Jonathan Belcher, Efq. Governor
of Maflachufets-Bay and New-Jerfey. — *
2. An elm efteemed facred for being the
tree in which their charter was conceal-
ed.— 3. A wonderful well, which was
dug 60 feet deep without any appearance
of water, when a large rock was met
with. The miners boring this rock, in
order to blaft it with powder, drove the
auger through it, upon winch the wa*

1

CONNECTICUT. 167

ter fpouted up with fuch great velo-
city, that it was with great difficulty the
well was ftoned. It foon filled and
ran over, and has fupported, or rather
made, a brook for above one hundred
years.

The tomb of Mr. Hooker is viewed
with great reverence by his difciples.
Nathaniel, his great grandfon, a minifter
in Hertford, inherits more than all his
virtues, without any of his vices.

1

Weather sfield is four miles from Hert-
ford, and more compaft than any towri
in the colony. The meeting- houfe is of
brick, with a fteeple, bell, and clock.
The inhabitants fay it is much larger than
Solomon's Temple. The townfliip ten
miles fquare ; parishes four. The peo-
ple are more gay than polite, and more
fuperftitions than religious.

This town raifes more onions than are
confumed in all New-England. It is a rule

M 4 with

1 68

HISTORY OF

with parents to buy annually a filk gown

for each daughter above feven years old,
till (he is married. The young beauty is
obliged, in return, to weed a patch of
onions with her own hands ; which flie
performs in the cool of the morning, be-
fore {he dreffes for her breakfaft. This
laudable and healthy cuftom is ridiculed
by the ladies in other towns, who idle
away their mornings in bed, or in gather-
ing the* pink, or catching the butterfly,
to ornament their toilets ; while the gen-
tlemen far and near forget not the Wea-
thersfield ladies filken induftry.

Weathersfield was fettled in 1637, by
the Rev Mr. Smith, and his followers,
who left Watertown, near Bofton, in or-
der to get out of the power of Mr. Cot-
ton, whofe feverity in New-England ex-
ceeded that of the bifhops in Old En-
gland. But Mr. Smith did not difcard
the fpirit of perfecution as the fole pro-
perty of Mr. Cotton, but carried with

him

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CONNECTICUT. 169

him a fufficient quantity of it to diftrefe
and divide his little flock.

Mtddletown is ten miles below Wea-
thersfield, and beautifully fituated upon
the Connedticut, between two fmall
rivers, one mile afunder, which is the
length of the town and grand ftreet. Here
are an elegant church, with a fteeple,
bell, clock, and organ ; and a large meet-
ing without a fteeple. The people are
polite, and not much troubled with that
fanatic zeal which pervades the reft of the
colony. The townfhip is ten miles fquare,
and forms four pariflies, one epifcopal.
TWs and the two preceding towns may be
compared to Chelfea.

The following town?, which lie on
Connedticut river, are fo much alike,
that a defcription of one will ferve for the
whole ; viz. Wind for, Eaft-JVindfor, Glaf-
tonbury, Endfidd, Nuffield, Chatham, Had-

dam, and Eajl-Haddam. -Wind/or, the

beft, is cut in two by the river Ett, which

wanders

170 HISTORY OF

wanders from the north weft 100 miles
through various meadows, towns, and
villages, and refembles Bedford. Town-
fhip ten miles fquare, forming three
| parifties. It was fettled in 1637, by the
Rev. Mr. Huet and his aflbciates, who
fled from religious flavery in Bofton to
enjoy the power of depriving others of
liberty.

The following towns, lying back of
the river towns, being fimilar in moft
refpe&s, I (hall join alfo in one clafs $ viz.
Hebron, Colchefter, Bolton, Toland, Staf-
ford, and Sommers.

Hebron is the center of the pro-
vince ; and it is remarkable that there
are 36 towns larger, and 36 lefs. It
is fituated between two ponds, about
two miles in length, and one in breadth;
and is interfered by two fmall ri-
vers, one of which falls into the Con-
nedticut, the other into the Thames. A
Urge meeting ftands on a fquare, where

four

CONNECTICUT. 171

four roads meet. The town refembles
Finchley. The townfhip eight miles
fquare ; five parishes, one is epifcopal.
The number of houfes is 400; of the
inhabitants 3200. It pays one part out
of feventy-three of all governmental taxes;
and is a bed of farmers on their own
eftates. Frequent fuits about the Indian
titles have rendered them famous for their
knowledge in law and felf-prefervation.
In 1740, Mr. George White field gave
them this laconic charader. 41 Hebron,"
fays he t " is the ftrong-hold of Satan ;
cc for its people mightily oppofe the work
" of the Lord, being more fond of earth
u than of heaven."

This town is honoured by the refi-
dence of the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Po-
meroy; an excellent fcholar, an exem-
plary gentleman, and a mod thundering
preacher of the new-light order. His
great abilities procured him the favour
and honour of being the inftrudor of

Abime-

172 HISTORY OF

Abimelcck, the prefent King of Mohe-
gin. He is of a very perfevering, fove-
reign difpofition ; but juft, polite, gene-
rous, charitable and without diflimula-
tion. — Avis alba.

Here alfo refide fome of the defen-
dants of William Peters, Efq. already
fpoken of $ among whom is the Rev*
Samuel Peters, an epifcopal clergyman,
who, by his generofity and zeal for the
Church of England, and loyalty to the
Houfe of Hanover, has rendered him-
felf famous both in New and Old Eng-
land, and in fome degree made an at-
tonement for the fanaticifm and treafons
of his uncle Hugh, and of his anceftor on
his mother's fide, Major-General Thomas
Harrifon, both hanged at Charing-Crofs
in the laft century. See pp. 48 — 55, note.

Colchejier has to boaft of the Rev.
John Buckley for its firft minifter, whofe
grandfather was the Rev. Peter Buck-
ley, of Woodhill, in Bedfordlhire, in Old-
England

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CONNECTICUT, 173

England $ who, after being filenced by the
Bifhop for his mifconduft, went to New-
England in 1635, and died at Concord in
1658. — John Buckley was a great fcho-
lar: and, fuffering prudence to govern
his hard temper, he conciliated the efteem
of all parties, and became the ornament
of the Sober Dijfenters in Connecticut.
He was a lawyer, a phyfician, and a divine.
He publiflied an ingenious pamphlet to
prove that the title of the people to their
lands was good, becaufe they had taken
them out of the ftate of nature. His
argument fatisfied many who thought their
titles were neither legal, juft, nor fcrip-
tural: indeed, it may feem conclufive, if
his major proportion be granted, That
the Englifh found Connecticut in a ftate
of nature. His fon John was a lawyer
and phyfician of great reputation, and
was appointed a judge of the fuperior
court very young. He and his father
were fufpeCted to be not found in the

faith,

174 HISTORY OP

faith, becaufe they ufed in their prayers,
From battle and murder \ and from fudden
death, good Lord deliver us, jot the fake of
thine only fon, who commands us thus to

fray, Our Father, &c. (Sc. —Peter

Buckley was poflefled of a gentleman's

eftate in Bedford (hi re, which he fold,
and fpent the produce among his fer-
vants in Maffachufets-Bay. His pofte-
rity inColchefter, in Cohnedticut, are very
rich, and, till lately, were held in great
efteem; which, however, they loft, by
conforming to the Church of England.

There is nothing remarkable to be ob-
ferved of any of the other towns I have
clafled with Hebron, except Stafford,
which pofleffes a mineral fpring that has
the reputation of curing the gout, fteri-
lity, pulmony, hyfterics, &c. &c. and
therefore is the New -England Bath,
where the lick and rich refort to prolong
life, and acquire the polite accomplifti-
iticnts.

Her-

CONNECTICUT. 175

Herrington, Farmington, and Symlbury,
lying weft from Hertford, and on the river
Ett, will finifh the county of Hertford.

Herrington is ten miles fquare, and
forms two pariflies.

Farmington refetnbles Croydon. The
townftiip is fifteen miles fquare, and
forms eight pariflies, three of which are
epifcopal. Here the meadow land is fold
at 50I. fterling per acre.

Symjbury, with its meadows and fur-
rounding hills, forms a beautiful landlkip,
much like Maidftone in Kent. The
townfliip is 20 miles fquare, and con-
fifts of nine pariflies, four of which are
epifcopal. Here are copper mines. In
working one many years ago, the miners
bored half a mile through a mountain,
making large cells 40 yards below the fur-
face, which now ferve as a prifon, by or-
der

176 HISTORY OF

der of the General Affembly, for fuch of-
fenders as they chufe not to hang. The
prifoners are let down on a windlafs into
thisdifmal cavern, through an hole, which
anfwers the triple purpofe of conveying

them food, air, and I was going to fay

light, bat it fcarcely reaches them. In a
few months the prifoners are releafed by
death and the colony rejoices in her
great humanity, and the mildnefs of her
laws. This conclave of fpirits impri-
soned may be called, with great propriety,
the catacomb of Connecticut. The light
of the Sun and the light of the Gofpel are
alike (hut out from the martyrs, whofe

refurre&ion-ftate will eclipfe the wonder
of that of Lazarus. It has been remarked
by the candid part of this religious co-
lony, that the General Affembly and Con-
fociation have never allowed any prifoner9
in the whole province a chaplain, though
they have fpent much of their time and
the public money in fpreading the Gofpel

in

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CONNECTICUT. 177

in the neighbouring colonies among the
Indians, quakers, and epifcopalians, and
though, at the fame time, thofe religionifts
preach damnation to all people who neg-
left to attend public worfhip twice every
Sabbath, fafting, and thankfgiving day,
provided they are appointed by them-
felves, and not by the King and Parlia-
ment of Great Britain. This well-founded
remark has been treated by the zea-
lots as fpringing more from malice than
policy.

I beg leave to give the following inftances
of the humanity and mildnefs the province
has always manifefted for the epifcopal
clergy :

About 1746, the Rev. Mr. Gibbs, of
Symfbury, refuting to pay a rate impofed
for the falary of Mr. Mills, a differ-
ing minifter in the fame town, was, by
the Colle&or, thrown acrofs a horfe,
lafhed hands and feet under the creature's
belly, and carried many miles in that

N humane

i 7 8 HISTORY OF

humane manner to gaol. Mr. Gibbs was
half-dead when he got there; and, though
he was releafed by his church-wardens,
who, to fave his life, paid the afleffment,
yet, having taken cold in addition to his
bruifes, he became delirious, and has re-
mained in a (late of infanity ever fince.

In 1772, the Reverend Mr. M02-
ley,a Miffionary from the Society for the
Propagation of the Gofpel, at Litchfield,
was prefentcd by the grand jury for mar-
rying a couple belonging to his parifli after
the banns were duly publiflied, and con-
fent of parents obtained. The Court
mildly fined Mr. Mozley 20/. becaufe he
could not fhew any other licence to of-
ficiate as a clergyman, than what he had
received from the Bi(hop of London,
whofc authority the Court determined
did not extend to Connecticut, which
was a chartered government. One of
the Judges faid, c< It is high time to put
« c a flop to the ufurpations of the Biftiop

" of

jy Google

CONNECTICUT. 179

" of London, and to let him know, that
u though his licence be lawful, and may
u impowcr one of his curates to marry in
H England, yet it is not fo in America $
u and if fines would not curb them in
t( this point, imprifonment fhould."

The fecond county in the kingdom of
Conne£licote, and the mod mountainous
in the whole province, is Litchfield ; which
produces abundance of wheat, butter,
cheefe, iron ore, &c. and has many iron-
works, founderies, and furnaces. It con-
tains the following 14 towns :

Litchfield is watered by two fmall ri-
vers. An elegant meeting, and a decent
Cburt - houfe, with fteeples and bells,
ornament the fquare, where three roads
meet. The bed ftreet is one mile long.
It refembles Dartford. The townftiip is
12 miles fquare, and forms five parifties,
one of which is epifcopal.

Tho' Litchfield is the youngeft county

N 2 of

180 HISTORY OF

of Connecticut, yet, in 1766, it fet an ex-
ample to the reft worthy of imitation.
The province had always been greatly
peftered by a generation of men called
quacks, who, with a few Indian nos-
trums, a lancet, a glifter-pipe, rhubarb,
treacle-water, mixed with Roman bombaft
of vena cava and vena porta, attacked fe-
vers, nervous diforders, and broken bones,
and, by the grace of perfeverance, fub-
dued nature, and helped their patients to
a paffage to the world of fpirits be-
fore they were ready. The furgeons
and phyficians, who were not quacks,
formed themfelves into a fociety, for
the encouragement of literature and a
regular and wholefome practice. But
their laudable endeavours were difcoun-
tenanced by the General Aflembly, who
refufed to comply with their follicitation
for a charter 5 becaufe the quacks aqd
people faid, " If the charter were granted,
the learned men would become too rich

*7

CONNECTICUT. i8i

by a monopoly, as they had in Eng-
land." The anfwer to this objedtion was,
" Would it not be better to permit a
monoply to preferve the health and lives
of the people, than to fuffer quacks to
kill them, and ruin the province ?"
The reply proved decifive in that fanati-
cal affembly, viz. « c No medicine can be
fcrviceable without the blefling of God.
The quacks never adminifter any phyfic
before the minifter has prayed for a bleff-
ing ; whereas the learned dodldrs fay, that
the bleffing is in their phyfic, without the
prayers of minifters." One do&or propofed
the trial of a dofe of arfenic ; whether it
would not kill any- one who would take it,
though 20 minifters fhould pray againft
it. Ke was called a profane man — the
petition was rejedted — and quackery re-
mains triumphant !

New-Milford lies on Ofootonoc river.
A church and meeting, with fteeples

N 3 and

,8z HISTORY Of

and bells, beautify the town, which re*
fembles Fulham. The townfhip, twelve
miles fquare, forms five parifhes, of which
two are epifcopal.

Woodbury lies on the farpe river, and
refembles Kenti(h-Town. The townfhip,
twelve miles fquare, is divided intQ feven

parifhes, three of them epifcopal. In

this town lives the Rev. Dr. Bellamy,
who is a good fcholar, and a great preach-
er. He has attempted to (hew a niore
excellent way to heaven than was known
before. He may be called the Athenian of
Connecticut ; for he has publifhed fomer
thing new to the chriftian worjd — Zuin-
glius may learn of him.

The following towns lie alfo on the
Ofootonoc, viz. Sharon, Kent, Salijbury y
New-Fairfield, Cornwall, Gofncn, and Ca-
naan; and all of them refemble Finchley.
Each townfhip \s ten miles fquare. —

Sharon

CONNECTICUT. 183

Sharon forms three parifhes, one of which
is epifcopal. It is much noted on ac-
count of a famous mill, invented and
built by Mr. Joel Harvey, upon his own
eftate ; for which he received a compli-
ment of 20/. from the Society of Arts in
London. The water, by turning one
wheel, fets the whole in motion. In two
apartments wheat is ground ; in two
others, bolted ; in another threfhed 5 in
a fixth, winnowed ; in the feventh hemp
and flax are beaten, and in the eighth
drefied. Either branch is difcontinued at
pleafure, without impeding the reft.

The other towns in Litchfield coun-
ty are, New-Hertford, Torrington, Hart-
land, and Wincbefier, all which lie on
the river Ett, The townfhips are fe-
verally about fix miles fquare, and each
forms one parifti.

The Kingdom of Quinnipiog con-
ftitutes the Dominion of Newhaven,

N 4 divided

i84 HISTORY OF

divided into two counties, viz. Newhaven
and Fairfield r thefe again divided into
17 townfhips, about 12 miles fquare each.
The number of houfes is nearly 10,000,
and that of the inhabitants 60,000.

The county of Newhaven is hilly, and
has a thin foil, enriched, however, by the

induftry of its inhabitants. The chief

j . i . .....

commodities are, flax, rye, barley, white
beans, and fait -hay. It contains eight
towns : four of which lie on the Sound>
and the other on the back of therm

Newhaven townfhip comprizes fourteen
parishes; three of them epifcopal, ^nd
one Sandemanian. The town, being the
moft beautiful in New-England, if not
in all America, is entitled to a minute de-
scription. It is bounded foutherly by the
bay into which the river Quinnipiack
empties itfelf j eafterly and wefterly, by

two creeks two miles afunder ; and,

• > ...

northerly, by a lofty mountain, that ex T

tends

> . i

ized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 185

tends even to the river St. Laurence, and
forms a high land between the rivers
Hudfon and Corinedticote ; {landing in a
plain three miles by two in extent. This
plain is divided into 300 fquares, of the
fize of Bloomfbury-fquare, with ftreets
20 yards wide between each divifion.
Forty of thefe fquares are already built
upon, having houfes of brick and wood
on each front, about five yards afunder ;
every houfe with a garden that pro-
duces vegetables fufficient for the fa-
mily. Two hundred houfes are annually
erefted. Elms and button-trees furround
the center fquare, wherein are two meet-
ings, the court-houfe, the jail, and La-
tin fchool ; — in the fronts of the adjoin-
ing fquares are, Yale College, the chapel,
a meeting, and a church ; — all thefe
grand buildings, with (leeples and bells.
The market is plentifully fupplied with
every neceflary during the whole year, ex-
cepting greens in winter. But the harbour

is

186 HISTORY OF

is incommoded by flats near the town, of
one mile in width, and by ice in winter.
The former evil is, in feme meafure re-
medied by long and expenfive wharves ;
but the latter is incurable. The people,
however, fay their trade is greater than that
of Norwich or New-London ; and their
(hipping, of different burthens, confifts of
near 200 fail.

According to Dr. Mather, Newhaven
was, about 1 646, to have been made a city,
the intereft of the colony with Crom*
well's party being then very great j but
a wonderful phenomenon prevented it.
As the good Dr. Mather never wanted
faith through the whole courfc of his m ag-
nail a, and as the New-Englanders, to the
prefent time, believe his reports, I will
here prefent my readers with the hiftory
of this miracle :

4( The people of Newhaven fitted out
a fhip, and fent her richly laden for Eng-
land, to procure a patent for the colony,

and

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 187

and a charter for the city.— After the (hip
had been at fea fome weeks,, there hap-
pened in New-England a violent ftorm,
which induced the people of Newhaven
to faft and pray, to inquire of the Lord
whether their fhip was in that ftorm, or
not. This was a real faft ; for the peo-
ple neither eat nor drank from fun-rife
till fun-fet. At five o'clock in the after
noon, they came out of meeting, walk-
ing foftly, heavily, and fadly, home-
wards. On a fudden the air thundered,
and the lightnings Jhone abroad. They
looked up towards the heavens, when
they beheld their fhip under full fail, and
the failors fteering her from weft to eaft.
She qame over the meeting where they
had fafted and prayed, and then was met
by an euroclydon, which rent the fails,
and overfet the fhip — in a few moments
flip fell down near the weather-cock
on the fteeple, and inftantly vanifhed.
The people all returned to the meeting,

where

188 HISTORY OF

where the minifter gave thanks to God,
for anfsvering the defires of his fervants,
and for giving them an infallible token of
the lofs of their (hip and charter."

This, and divers other miracles which
have happened in New- England, have
been, and ftill are, ufeful to the clergy in
eftabliftiing the people in the belief that
there is a great familiarity between God
and their minifters. Hence the minifters
govern the fuperftitious ; whilft the dea-
con, the lawyer, and the merchant, for
lucre, wink at the impofition — yet the
minifters in their turn are governed by
their abettors. The cafe, upon the whole,
is this : the minifters govern a multitude
of fools, and are themfelves governed by
knaves.

Thou genius of adventure! that

carried ft Columbus from eaftern to the
weftern (hores, the domain of favage
beafts and favage men, now curfed with
the demons of fuperftition and fanaticifm,

oh!

«gl

CONNECTICUT. i8 9

oh ! kindle in no other breaft the wifli
to feek new worlds: — Africa already

mourns, and Europe trembles I .

The true charadter of Davenport and
Eaton, the leaders of the firft fettlers
of Newhaven, may be learnt from the
following fadt : — An Englifh gentleman,
of the name of Grigfon, coming, on his
travels, to Newhaven, about the year
1644, was greatly pleafed with its plea-
fant fituation ; and, after purchafing a
large fettlement, fent to London for his
wife and family. But before their arrival,
he found that a charming fituation, with-
out the blefling of religious and civil li-
berty, would not render him and his fa-
mily happy : he refolved, therefore, to
quit the country, and return to England,
as foon as his family fliould arrive, and
accordingly advertifed his property for
fale ; when lo ! agreeable to one of the
Blue Laws, no one would buy, becaufe
he had not, and could not obtain liberty

of

iy3 HISTORY OF

of the fele&men to fell it. The patrio-
tic virtue of the feledimen thus becoming
an infurmountable bar to the fale of his
Newhaven eftate, Mr. Grigfon made his
will, and bequeathed part of his lands to*
wards the fupport of an epifcopal clergy-
man, who fhould refide in that town,
and the refidue to his own heirs. Having
depofited his will in the hands of a friend,
he fet fail, with his family, for England,
but died on his paffage. This friend
proved the will, and had it recorded, but
died alfo foon after. The record was
dexieroufly concealed by glueing two
leaves together j and, after fome years, the
feledtmen fold the whole eftate to pay
taxes, though the rent of Mr. Grigfon's
houfe alone in one year would pay the taxes
for ten. Some perfons, hardy enough to
exclaim againft this glaring injuftice,
were foon file need, and expelled the town.
In 1750, an epiicopal clergyman was
fettled in Newhaven j and, having been

informed

zed by

CONNECTICUT. 191

informed of Mr. Grigfon's will, applied
to the town- clerk for a copy, who told
him there was no fuch will on record,
and withal refufed him the liberty of
fearching. In 1 7 68, Peter Harrifon, Efq.
from Nottinghamfliire, in England, the
King's colleftor at the port of New-
haven, claimed his right of fearching
public records ; and, being a ftranger, and
not fuppofed to have any knowledge of
Grigfon's will, obtained his demand.—
The alphabet contained Grigfon's name,
and referred to a page which was not
to he found in the book. Mr. Harrifoa
at fir ft fuppofed it to have been torn out;
but, on a clofer examination, difcovered
one leaf much thicker than the others.
He put a corner of the thick leaf into his
mouth, and foon found it was compofed
of two leaves, which with much difficulty
having feparated, he found Grigfon's will!
To make fure work, he took a copy of it
himfelf, and then called the clerk to draw

and

i 9 i HISTORY OF

and atteft another; which was done*
Thus furnifhed, Mr. Harrifon inftantly
applied to the feledtmen, and demanded
a furrender of the land which belonged
to the church, but which they as promptly
refufed ; whereupon Mr. Harrifon took
out writs of ejedtment againft the pof-
feffors. As might be expedted, Mr. Harri*
fon, from a good man, became, in ten
days, the word man in the world $ but,
being a generous and brave Englifliman,
he valued not their clamours and curfes,
though they terrified the gentlemen of the

law. Harrifon was obliged to be his own
lawyer, and boldly declared he expect-
ed to lofe his caufe in New-England ;
but after that he would appeal, and try
it, at his own expence, in Old England,
where juftice reigned. The good people,
knowing Harrifon did not get his bread by
their votes, and that they could not baffle
him, refiened the lands to the church
on that gentleman's own terms ; which in

a few

CONNECTICUT. 193

a few years will fupport a clergyman in
a very genteel manner. The honeft fe-
le&men yet poflefs the other lands, though
report fays Mr. Grigfon has an heir of
his own name, refiding near Holborn, in
London, who inherits the virtues of his
anceftor, and ought to inherit his eftate.

The fad and awful difcovery of Mr.
Grigfon's will, after having been con-
cealed above 100 years, would have con-
founded any people but thofe of New-
haven, who ftudy nothing but religion
and liberty. Thofe pious fouls confoled
themfelve9 by comparifon : " We are no
c< worfe, M faid they, " than the people of
41 Bofton and Windham county/' The
following fa<3 will explain this juflification
of the faints of Newhaven:

In 1740, Mrs. Curfette, an Englifh
lady, travelling from New-York to Bof-
ton, was obliged to {lay feme days at
Hebron; where, feeing the church not
fintthed, and the church- people fuffer-

O ing

i 9 4 HISTORY OF

fering great perfections, (he told them
to perfevere in their good work, and (he
would fend them a prefent when (he got
to Bofton. Soon after her arrival there,
Mrs. Curfette fell fickand died. In herwill
(he gave a legacy of 300I. old tenor (then
equal to 100I. fterling) to the church of
England in Hebron ; and appointed
John Hancock, Efq. and Nathaniel Glo-
ver, her executors. Glover was alfo her
refiduary legatee. The will was obliged
to be recorded in Windham county, be-
caufe fome of Mrs. Curfette's lands lay
there. Glover fent the will by Deacon
S— H — , of Canterbury, ordering him to
get it recorded, and keep it private, left
the legacy ihould build up the church.
The Deacon and Regifter were faithful to
their truft, and kept Glover's fecret twenty-
Jive years. At length the Deacon was
taken ill, and his life was fuppofed in great
danger. Among his penitential confef-
fions, he told of his having concealed

Mrs.

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CONNECTICUT. 195

Mrs. Curfette's will. His confident went
to Hebron, and informed the wardens,
that for one guinea he would difcover a
fecret of 300/. old tenor conftquence to the
Church. The guinea was paid, and the
fecret difclofed. A demand of the legacy
enfued. Mr. Hancock referred to Glo-
ver ; and Glover faid he was neither
obliged to publifli the will, nor pay the
legacy : it had lapfed to the heir at law.
It being difficult for a Connedticut man
to recover a debt in the Maflachufets-
Bay, and vice verfa, the wardens were
obliged to accept from Mr. Glover 30/. in-
ftead of 300/. fterling; which fum, allow-
ing 200/. as lawful fimple intereft at fix"
per cent, for 25 years, ought in equity to
have been paid.— This matter, however,
Mr. Glover is to fettle with Mrs. Cur-
fette in the other world.

Newhaven is celebrated for having given
the name of pumkin-heads to all the New-
Englanders. It originated from the Blue

O 2 Laws,

196 HISTORY OF

Laws, which enjoin every male to have
his hair cut round by a cap. When caps
were not to be had, they fubftituted the
hard (hell of a pumkin, which being put
on the head every Saturday, the hair is
cut by it all round the head. What-
ever religious virtue is fuppofed to be de-
rived from this cuftom, I know not ; but
there is much prudence in it : firft, it pre-
vents the hair from fnarling ;— fecondly,
it faves the ufe of combs, bags, and
ribbons ;— thirdly, the hair cannot incom-
mode the eyes by (ailing over them $—
and, fourthly, fuch perfons as have loft
their ears for herefy, and other wicked-
nefs, cannot conceal their misfortune aod
difgrace.

Cruelty and godlinefs were, perhaps,
never fo well reconciled by any people,
as by thofe of Newhaven, who are alike
renowned for both. The unhappy ftory
of Deacon Potter has eternized the infa-
my of their Blue Laws, and almoft an-
nexed

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 197

nexcd to their town the name of Sodom.
The Deacon had borne the beft of cha-
radters many years : he was the peaces
maker, and an enemy to perfecution ;
but he was grown old, was rich, and
had a young wife. His young wife had
an inclination for a young huftand, and
had waited with impatience for the death
of her old one, till at length, refolving, if
poffiblej to accelerate the attainment of
her wiflies, {he complained to the Ma-
giftrate, that her hufband did not render
her due benevolence. The Judge took
no notice of what (he faid. She then
fwore that her hufband was an apoftate j
and that he was fonder of his mare, bitch,
and cow, than of her; in which alle-
gations (he was joined by her fon. The
Deacon was brought to his trial con-
demned, executed with the beafts, and
with them alfo buried in one common
grave. Dr. Mather, with his ufual quantity
of faith, fpeaks of the Deacon as verily

O 3 guilty,

i 9 8 HISTORY OF

guilty, as having had a fair, legal, and can-
did trial, and convicted on good and fcrip-
tural evidence. I am willing to allow
the Dodtor as much fincerity as faith.
He had his information from the party
who condemned the Deacon ; but there
are manufcripts, which I have feen, that
ftate the matter thus : Deacon Potter was
hanged for herefy and apoftacy, which
confifted in (hewing hofpitality to Gran-
gers, who came to his houfe in the night,
among whom were Quakers, Anabaptifts,
and Adamites. This was forbidden by
the Blue Laws, which punifhed for the
iirft and fecond offence with fines, and
with death for the third. His wife and
fon betrayed him for hiding the fpies, and
fending them away in peace. The court
was contented with calling his compli-
cated crimes beaftiality ; his widow, with
a new hufband $ and the fon, with the
eftate ; while the public were deceived

by the arts of a wicked junto, -I have

related

CONNECTICUT. 199

related this ftory to (hew the danger of
admitting a wife to give evidence againft
her hufoand, according to the Blue Laws;
and to caution all readers againft cre-
diting too much the hiftorians of New-
England, who, either from motives of
fear or emolument, have, in number-
lefs inftances, defignedly difguifed or con-
cealed the truth. Such perfons, whofe
ftubborn principles would not bend to
this yoke, were not fuffered to fearch the
colonial records; and thofe who have
dared to intimate that all was not right
among the firft fettlers, have been com-
pelled to leave the country with the dou-
ble lofs of charadter and property.

To Newhaven now belongs Yale
College, of which I have promifed
my readers a particular account. It was
originally, as already mentioned, a fchool,
eftablifhed by the Rev. Thomas Peters,
at Saybrook, who left it his library at his
death. It foon acquired the diftinguifh-

O 4 ing

200 HISTORY OF

ing appellation of Schola Illuflris $ and,
about 17Q0, was honoured by the Ge-
neral Affembly with a charter of in-
corporation, converting it into a college,
under the denomination of Tale College,
in compliment to a gentleman of that
name, governor of one of the Weft-India
iflands, and its greateft benefaftor. The
charter conftitutes a prefident, three tu-
tors, twelve overfeers, and a treafurer;
and exempts it from any vifitation of the
Governor or Affembly, in order to fecure
it againft the controul of a King's Gover-
nor, in cafe one fliould ever be appointed.
I have already obferved, that a power of
conferring Bachelors and Mafters degrees
was granted by the charter; and that the
corporation have thought proper to aflume
that of conferring Dodtors degrees. By
the (Economical regulations of the Col-
lege, there are, a profeffor in divinity,
mathematics, and natural philofophy $
and four claffes of ftudents, which were
. «

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CONNECTICUT.

201

at firft attended by the prefident and the
three tutors ; but the prefident has long
been excufed that laborious talk, and a
fourth tutbr appointed in his Head, Each
clafs has its proper tutor. Once a week
the prefident examines them all in the
public hall, fuperintends their difputa-
tions and fcientific demonftrations, ahd,
if any ftudent appears to be negligent,
orders him under the care of a fpecial
tutor j a fligma which feldom fails of pro-
ducing its intended effe£t. Greek, Latin,
Geography, Hiftory, and Logic, are well
taught in this feminary; but it fuffers
for want of tutors to teach the Hebrew,
French, and Spanilh languages. Oratory,
mufic, and politenefs, are equally negledted
here and in the colony The ftudents at*
tend prayers, every morning and evening,
at fix o'clock. The prefident, profeflbr,
or one of the tutors, reads and expounds
a chapter ; then a pfalm is fung, after
which follows a prayer. This finifhed,

each

ioz HISTORY OF

each clafs repairs to its tutor. The hours
of ftudy are notified by the College
bell, and every fcholar feen out of his
room is liable to a fine, which is feldom
excufed. The amufements for the even-
ings are, not cards, dancing, or mufic,
but reading and compofnion. They are
allowed two hours play with the foot-ball
every day. Thus cooped up for four
years, they underftand books better than
men or manners. They then are admit-
ted to their Bachelors degree, having un-
dergone a public examination in the arts
and fciences. Three years afterwards they
are admitted to their Mafters degree, pro-
vided they have fupported moral charac-
ters. The ceremony ufed by the prefi-
dent on thefe occafions is to deliver a
book to the intended Matter in Arts, fay-
, ing, <c Admitto teadfecundum Gradum in
<c Artibus, pro more Academiarum in
" Anglia 5 tradoque tibi hunc librum, una
" cum poteftatepublice praelegendiquotiel-

cunque

CONNECTICUT. 203

u cunque ad hoc munus evocatus fueris."
For Bachelors the fame, mutatis mutandis.
A diploma on vellum with the feal of
the College is given to each Mafter, and
figned by the prefident and fix fellows or
overfeers. The firft degrees of Matters
were given in 1702. The fhidents of

late years have amounted to about 180.
They dine in the common-hall at four
tables, and the tutors and graduates at a
fifth. The number of the whole is
about 200.

Yale College is built with wood, and
painted of a flty colour - 9 is 160 feet long,
and three ftories high, befides garrets. In
1754, another building, of brick, 100 feet
long, and alfo three ftories high, exclu-
five of the garrets, with double rooms
and a double front, was added, and
called Connecticut Hall. About 1760,
a very elegant chapel and library were
eredted, with brick, under one roof.
But it cannot be fuppofed the latter is to

be

*04 HISTORY OF

be compared with the Vatican or Bod-
leian. It confifts of 8 or 10,000 vo-
lumes in all branches of literature, but
wants modern books ; though there is
a tolerable fufficiency, if the corporation
would permit what they call Bifliops and
Arminiah books to be read. Ames's
Medulla is allowed, while Grotius de
Veritate Religionis is denied. It was

lately prefented with a new and valuable
apparatus for experimental philofophy.
The whole library and apparatus were
given by various perfons, chiefly Englifli.

The General Aflembly have endowed
this College with large trads of land,
which, duly cultivated, will foon fupport
the ample eftabliftiment of an Univerfityj
but, even at prefent, I may truly fay,
Yale College exceeds in the number, and
perhaps in the learning, of its fcholars, all
others in Britifh America.

This feminary was, in 1^17, removed
from Saybrook to Newhaven j the extra-
ordinary

CONNECTICUT, *o 5

ordinary caufe of which tranfition, I fhall
here lay before the reader.

Say brook dominion had been fettled
by Puritans of fome moderation and de-
cency. They had not joined with Mafla-
chufets-Bay, Hertford, and Newhayep,
in fending home agents to affift in the
murder of Charles I. and the fubverfion
of the Lords and Biihops : — they had re-
ceived Hooker's heretics, and flickered
the apoftates from Davenport's millenarian
fyftem: — they had fhewn an inclination to
be dependent on the Mother-country,
and had not wholly anathematized the
church of England. In fhort, the peo-
ple of Hertford and Newhaven fufpedted
that Saybrook was not truly pro-
teftant; that it had a paffion for the
leeks and onions of Egypt $ and that the
youth belonging to them in the Schola 1{-
/u/lris were in great danger of imbib-
ing its lukewarmnefs. A vote, there-
fore, paffed at Hertford, to remove

the

ao6 HISTORY OF

the college to Weathersfield, where the
leaks and onions of Egypt would not be
thought of; and another at Newhaven,
that it fhould be removed to that town,
where Chrift had eftablifhed his dominion
from fea to fea, and where he was to be-
gin his millenarian reign. About 1715,
Hertford, in order to carry its vote into
execution, prepared teams, boats, and a
mob, and privately fet oft" for Saybrook,
and feized upon the college apparatus,
library, and ftudents, and carried all to
Weathersfield. This redoubled the jea-
loufy of the faints at Newhaven, who
thereupon determined to fulfil their vote;
and, accordingly, having collefted a mob
fufficient for their enterprize, they fet
out for Weathersfield, where they feized
by furprize the ftudents, library, &c. &c.
But on the road to Newhaven they were
overtaken by the Hertford mob, who,
however, after an unhappy battle, were
obliged to retire with only part of the li-
brary

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT, 207

brary and part of the ftudents. Hence
fprung two colleges out of one. The quar-
rel increafed daily, every body expeding
a war more bloody than that of Saffacus ;
and, no doubt, fuch would have been
the cafe, had not the peace-makers of
Maflachufets-Bay interpofed with their
ufual friendfliip, and advifed their dear
friends of Hertford to give up the college
to Newhaven. This was accordingly
done in 17 17, to the great joy of the crafty
Maflachufets" who always greedily feek
their own profperity, tho' it ruin their beft
neighbours. The college being thus fixed
forty miles farther weft from Bofton than
it was before, tended greatly to the in-
tereft of Harvard College - y for Saybrook
and Hertford, out of pure grief*, fent
their fons to Harvard, inftead of the
college at Newhaven. This quarrel con-

* Pure grief means, in New-England, anger and
revenge,

tinued

*>8 HISTORY OF

tinued till 1764, when it fubfidcd in a
grand continental confociation of mini-
iters, which met at Newhaven to confqlt
the Spiritual good of the Mohawks and
©ther Indian tribes, the beft method of
preferving the American vjne, and the
proteftant, independent liberty of America :
-~-a good preparatory to rebellion againft
Great Britain.

The Rev. Mr. Naphthali Dagget is the
fourth prefident of Yale College fince its
removal to Newhaven. He is an excel-
lent Greek and Latin fcholar, and
reckoned a good Calviniftic divine. Tho'
a ftranger to European politenefs, yet,
poflefling a mild temper and affable dif-
pofition, the exercife of his authority is
untin&ured with haughtinefs. Indeed,
he feems to have too much candour, and
too little bigotry, to pleafe the corpora-
tion, and retain his poft, many years.

The Rev. Mr. Nchemiah Strong,
the college profeffor, is alfo of an ami-
able

•ogle

CONNECTICUT. 209

able temper, and merits the appoint*
ment.

Were the corporation lefs rigid, and
more inclined to tolerate fome reafonable
amufements and polite accomplifhments
among the youth, they would greatly add
to the fame and increafe of the college ;
and the fludents would not be known by
every ftranger to have been educated in
Connecticut. The difadvantage under
which they at prefent appear, from the
want of addrefs, is much to be regretted.

Brainford ) Guildford^ and Mi/ford, are
much alike.

Guildford is laid out in fquares after
the manner of Newhaven, 20 of which
are built upon. The church and two
meetings ftand on the center fquare. One
of the meetings is very grand, with a
fteeple, bell, and clock. The pariflies in
it are eight, three of them epifcopal.

This town gave birth to the Reverend

P Samuel

aio HISTORY OF

Samuel Johnfon, D. D. who was the firft
epifcop.il minifter in Conne&icut, and the
firft prefident of King's College in New-
York. He was educated and became
a tutor in the college at Saybrook;
was an ornament to his native country,
and much efteemed for his humanity and
learning.

The Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, in
a fermon he preached in the great meet-
ing, gave the character of the people of
Guildford in 1740. His text was, Anoint
mine eyes with eye-falve. After pointing
out what was not the true eye-falve, he
faid, u I will tell you what is the true
" eye-falve : — it is faith— it is grace — it
u is fimplicity— it is virtue — it is virgin's

« c water Ah, Lord ! where can

u they be found ?— Perhaps, not in this
" grand affembly."

I have frequently quoted the Rev. Mr,
George Whitefield, — without that ludi-
crous intention which, poffibly, the reader

may

»ogle

CONNECTICUT. 211

may fufpedfc me of. I admire his general
charadter, his great difcernment, his know-
ledge of mankind, his piety, his .good-
nefs of heart, his generofity, and hatred
of perfecution, though I think his zeal
was fometimes too fervent. I ever view-
ed him as an inftrument of heaven, as
the greateft Boaoarges and bleffing Ame-
rica ever knew. He turned the profligate
to God ; he rouzed the lukewarm chri-
ftrian ; he tamed the wild fanatic, and
made Felix tremble. It is true, he has
alfo made wifemen mad j but this is the
natural effeft of the word, which is the fa-
vour of life and the favour of death at one
and the fame time. New-England, be-
fore his coming, was but the flaughter-
houfe for heretics. He was admired by
the opprefied epifcopalians, the trembling
quakcrs, the bleeding baptifts, &c. &c.
He was followed by all fedts and parties*
except the Sober DiJJenters^ who thought
their craft in danger. He made peace

P 2 where

2X2 HISTORY OF

where was no peace ; and even his ene-
mies praifed him in the gate. White-
field did what could not have been done
without the aid of an omnipotent arm ;
he planted charity in New-England, of
which the increafe has been a thoufand
fold. — He is landed where the wicked
ceafe from troubling ; where his works of
faith, love, and charity, cloath him ; and
where the Glory of Eternity bleffes him
with a welcome ineffably tranfporting.—
May his virtues be imitated ; his imper-
fections forgiven j and his happinefs ob-
tained by all !

Wallingford, Durham, Waterbury, and
Darby, finifli the county of Newhavcn.
. r-Wallingford is the beft of the four:

it lies on Quinnipiack river, and forms
eight parifhes, two of which are epifcopal.
The Town-ftreet is one mile long, and the
houfes ftand pretty thick on both fides.
The church, and two meetings, one with
a fteeple, bell, and clock, ftand in the

middle

CONNECTICUT. 213

middle of the ftreet. — The grave-ftones
point out the characters of the firft fettlers.
An extradt frorji one follows :

m w

" Here lies the body of Corporal Mofes Atwater,
** who left England in 1660, to enjoy liberty
" of confeience in a howling wildernefs."

The fecond county in the kingdom of
Quinnipiog is Fairfield. It is fituated
weft of Ofootonoc river, and contains nine
townfliips : five of which lie on the fea,
and refemble one another ; and on the
back of them are fituated the four others,
which alfo have a mutual refemblance.
The foil is rich and uneven : the chief
productions, excellent wheat, falt-hay, and
flax. Thofe townfhips which lie on the
fea, are Fairfield y Norwa/k, Stamford^
Greenwich^ and Stratford. This laft I
fliall defcribe,

Stratford lies on the weft bank of Ofoo-
tonoc river, having the fea or Sound on
the fouth. There are three ftreets run-

P 3 ning

4i 4 HISTORY OF

r

ning north and fouth, and ten caft and
weft. The beft is one mile long. On the
center fquare ftand a meeting with a
fteeple and bell, and a church with a
fteeple, bell, clock, and organ. It is a
beautiful place, and from the water has
an appearance not inferior to that of Can-
terbury. Of fix parilhes contained in it,
three are epifcopal. The people are faid
to be the moft polite of any in the colony,
owing to the Angular moderation of the
town in admitting, latterly, Europeans to
fettle among them. Many perfons pome
alfo from the iflands, and fouthern pro-
vinces, for the benefit of their health.
* ■ ■ ■ •

Here was eredted the firft epifcopal
church in Connedticut. A very extra-
ordinary ftory is told concerning the occa-
fion of it, which I (hall give the reader
the particulars of, the people being a$
fanguine in their belief of it as they are
of the fhip's failing pver Newhaven.

An ancient religious rite, called the

Pawwaw,

CONNECTICUT. 215

Pawwaw, was annually celebrated by the
Indians; and commonly lafted feveral
hours every night for two or three weeks.
About 1690, they convened to perform
it on Stratford point, near the town.
During the nodturnal ceremony, the Eng-
lifli law, or imagined they faw, devils rif?
out of the fea wrapped up in Iheets of
flame, and flying round the Ind&n camp,
while the Indians were fcreaming, cutting,
and proftrating themfelves before their
fuppofed fiery gods. In the midft of the
tumult, the devils darted in among them,
feized feveral, and mounted with them
into the air ; the cries and groans ifliiing
from whom quieted the reft. In the morn-
ing, the limbs of Indians, all (hrivel-
led, and covered with fulphur, were
found in different parts of the town,
Aftonifhed and terrified at thefe fpeilacles,
the people of Stratford began to think the
devils would take up their abode among
them, and called together all the mini-

P 4 iters

216 HISTORY OF

fters in the neighbourhood, to exorcife
and lay them. The minifters began and
carried on their warfare with prayer,
hymns, and abjuration j but the paw-
waws continued, and the devils would
not obey. The inhabitants were about
to quit the town, when Mr. Nell fpoke
and faid, " I would to God that Mr.
Vifey, the epifcopal minifter at New-
York, was here ; for he would expel all
thefe evil fpirits." They laughed at his
advice; but, on his reminding them of
the little maid who dire&ed Naaman to
a cure for his leprofy, they voted him
their permiflion to bring Mr. Vifey at
the next pawwaw. Mr. yifey attended
accordingly, and as the pawwaw com-
menced with howlings and hoop?, Mr.
Vifey read portions of the holy fcripturs,
litany, &c. The fea was put into great
piotion 5 the pawwaw flopped; the In-
dians difperfed ; and never more held a
pawwaw in Stratford. The inhabitants

were

•ogle

CONNECTICUT. 217

were ftruck with wonder at this event,
and held a conference to difcover the rea-
fon why the devils and pawwawers had
obeyed the prayers of one miratfter, and
had paid no regard to thofe of fifty. Some
thought that the reading the holy fcrip-
ture, others that the litany and Lord's
prayer,— fome again that the epifcopal
power of the minifter, and others that
all united were the means of obtaining
the heavenly bleffing they had received.
Thofe who believed that the holy fcrip-
tures and litany were effedtual againft the
devil and his legions, declared for the
church of England ; while the majority
afcribed their deliverance to a complot
between the devil and the epifcopal mi-
nifter, with a view to overthrow Chrift's
vine planted in New- En gland. Each
party ailed with more zeal than prudence.
The church, however, increafed, though
opprefled by more perfections and cala-
mities than were ever experienced by pu-

riuns

*i8 HISTORY OF

ritans from bifliops and pawwawers.
Even the ufe of the Bible, the Lord's
prayer, the litany, or any part of the
prayer-book, was forbidden ; nay, mini-
fters taught from their pulpits, according
to the Blue Laws, cc that the lovers of
Zion had better put their ears to the
mouth of hell, and learn from the whif-
pers of the devils, than read the bifhops
books while the churchmen, like
Michael the archangel contending with
the devil about the body of Mofes, dared
not bring againft them a railing accufa*
tion. — But this was not all. When the
epifcopalians had colle&ed timber for a
church, they found the devils had not
left the town, but only changed their
habitations— had left the favages and en-
tered into fanatics and wood. In the
night before the church was to be begun,
the timber fet up a country-dance, flap-
ping about, and flying in the air, with as
much agility and fulphureous ftench as

ever

zed by Google

CONNECTICUT. 219

ever the devils had exhibited around the
camp of the Indian pawwawers. This
alarming circumftance would have ruined
the credit of the church, had not the
epifcopalians ventured to look into the
phenomenon, and found the timber to
have been bored with augers, charged with
gun powder, and fired off by matches
a difcovery, however, of bad confequence
in one refpeft— it has prevented the
annalifts of New-England from publifh-
ing this among the reft of their miracles.
About 1720, the patience and fufferings
of the epifcopalians, who were then but
a handful, procured them fome friends
even among their perfecutors ; and thofe
friends condemned the cruelty exercifed
over the churchmen, quakers, and ana-
baptifts, in confequence of which they
firft felt the effedb of thofe gentle wea-
pons, the New-England whifperings and
backbitings 5 and at length were openly
ftigmatized as Arminians and enemies of

the

220 HISTORY OF

the American vine.— This condu&of the
Sober Dijjenters increafed the grievous fin
of moderation ; and near twenty of their
minifters, at the head of whom was Dr.
Cutler, prefident of Yale College, declared,
on a public commencement, for the church
of England. Hereupon, the General
Aflcmbly and Confociation, finding their
comminations likely to blaft the Ameri-
can vine, inftantly had recourfe to flat-
tery, larded over with tears and promifes,
by which means they recovered all the
feceflbrs, but four, viz. Dr. Cutler, Dr.
Johnfon, Mr. Whitmore, and Mr. Brown,
who repaired to England for holy orders.
— Dr. Cutler hafl the misfortune to fpend
his life and great abilities in the fanatical,
ungrateful, and fadtious town of Bolton,
where he went through fiery trials, Alin-
ing brighter and brighter, till he was de-
livered from New-England perfecution,
and landed where the wicked ceafe from
troubling. — Dr. Johnfon, from his natu-
ral

CONNECTICUT. zu

ral difpofition, and not for the fake of
gain, took pity on the negle&ed church
at Stratford, where for 50 years he fought
the bead of Ephefus with great fucceis.
The Dodtor was under the bountiful pro-
tedtion of the Society for the Propagation
of the Gofpel in foreign parts, incorpo-
rated by William III. to fave from the
rage of republicanifm, heathenifm, and
fanaticifm,all fuch members of the church
of England as were fettled in our Ameri-
can colonies, factories and plantations,
beyond the fea. — To the forefight of that
monarch, to the generous care and pro-
tedtion of that fociety, under God, are
owing all the loyalty, decency, chriftiani-
ty undefiled with blood, which glimmer
in New-England.-— Dr. Johnfon, ha-
ving fettled at Stratford among a neft of
zealots, and not being affaflinated, other
diffenting minifters were induced to join
themfelves to the church of England,
among whom were Mr. Beach and Mr.

Punderfon.

%zz HISTORY OP

Punderfon. Thofe genttemfen could not
be wheedled off by the Affembfy and
Confociation j they per fevered, and ob-
tained names among the Literati that Witt
never be forgotten.

The four remaining toWns of Fairfield
county, viz. Newtown, Reading, DanAury,
and Ridgfield, lie behind the tovfrns on
the fea. I ftiall defcribe the beft of
them, which is,

Danbury. It has much the appear-
ance of Croydon ; and forms five pariffaefc,
one of which is epifcopal, and another
Sandemanian; a third is called Baftard
Sandemanian, becaufe the minifter refufefc
to put away his wife, who is a fecond
wife. This town was the refidence, and
has now the tomb, of the learned and in-
genious Rev, Mr. Sandeman, well known
in the literary world. He was the faireft
and moft candid Calvinift that ever wrote
in the Englifli language, allowing the
natural confequences of all his propo-

fitions.

CONNECTICUT- %t$

fitions. He taught that a Bifhop muft fee
the hulband of one wife; that is, he
muft be married before he was ordained i
and, if he loft his wife, he could not
marry a fecond : that a Bifhop might
drefs with ruffles, a red coat and fword ;
that all the converted brothers and fitters,
at their coming into church, ought to fa-
lute with an holy kifs ; that all true
chriftians would obey their earthly king :
for which tenets, efpecially the laft, the
Sober Dijfettters of Conne&icut held him
to be an heretic.

It is ftrikingly remarkable, that near
one half of the people of the Dominion
of Newhavcn are epifcopalians, though
it was firft fettled by the moft violent of
puritans, who claimed fo much liberty to
themfelves that they left none for others.
The General Aflembly computed that the
church of England profeflbrs amounted to
one-third of the whole colony in 1770.

Hence

224 HISTORY OF

Hence has arifen a queftion, how it came
pafs, that the church of England in-
- creafed rapidly in Conne&icut, and but
(lowly in Maflachufets-Bay and Rhode-
Ifland ? The reafon appears obvious to
me. It is eafier to turn fanatical farmers
from their bigotry, than to convert fana-
tical merchants, fmugglers, and fifliermen.
Pride and gain prevent the two firft, and
ignorance the laft, from worfhiping the
Lord in the beauty of Holinefs. The
General Affembly of Rhode-Ifland never
fupported any religion ; nay, left, religion
fliould chance to prevail, they made a
law that every-one might do what was
right in his own eyes, with this provifo,
that no one fliould be h olden to pay a
note, bond, or vote, made or given to
fupport the Gofpel. Thus, barbarifm,
inhumanity, and infidelity, muft have
over-run the colony, had not its good
fituation for trade invited Europeans to
fettle therein.— As to the people of Maf-

fachufets-

CONNECTICUT. 225

fachufets-Bay, they, indeed, had the higtu
eft pretenfions to religion ; but then it
was fo impregnated with chicane, mer-
cantile policy, and infincerity, that infi-
delity got the better of fanaticifm, and
religion was fecretly looked upon as a
trick of ftate. Connefticut was fettled
by people who preferred the arts and fci-
ences to the amufements which render
Europe polite ; whence it has happened
that there boys and girls are at once
amufed and improved with reading, writ-
ing, and cyphering, every winter's night,
whilft thofe in the neighbouring colonies
polifh themfelves at cards, balls, and maf-
querades. In Connecticut, zeal, though
erroneous, is fincere : each fed believes
religion to be a fubftantial good ; and fa-
naticifm and prejudice have turned it into
fuperftition, which is ftronger than reafon
or the laws of humanity. Thus, it is
very obfervable, that* when any perfons
conform to the church of England, they

leave

iz6 HISTORY OF

leave neither their fuperftition nor zeal at
the meetings ; they retrench only fanatt-
cifm and cruelty, put on bowels of mer-
cy, and pity thofe in error. It (hould
be added, that every town in the co-
lony is by law obliged to fupport a
grammar - fchool, and every parifli an
Englifh fchool. From experience, there-
fore, I judge, that fuperftition with know-
ledge and fincerity is more favourable to
religion than fuperftition with ignorance
and infincerity; and that it is for this
reafon the church thrives in Connec-
ticut, and exifts only in the other New-
England provinces. In further fupport
of my opinion, I (hall recite the words
of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield,
in his firft tour through America, in
1740. He then found the people of
Conne&icut wife in polemical divinity,
and told them that much learning had
made them mad ; that he wifhed to leave
them with, u Jleep on and take your rejl

in

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 227

in the Bible, in Baxter, Gouge, and Bun-
yan, without the knowledge of Bifhops
books."

Perfons who fuppofe churchmen ia
Connecticut poffeffed of lefs zeal and fin-
cerity than the various feds among the
diflen,ters, are under a miftake - 9 for they
have voluntarily preferred the church un-
der every human difcouragement, and
fuffered perfecution rather than perfecute.
Conducing themfelves upon this truly
chriftian, though impolitic principle, they
have, in the fpace of fixty years, hu-
manized above fixty thoufand puritans,
who had ever been hating and perfe- '
cuting one another : and thqugh the Gene-
ral Aflembly and Confociation are alarmed
at the progrefs of chriftian moderation,
yet many individuals among them, per-
ceiving that perfecution declines where-
ever the church prevails, blefs God for
its growth ; whilft the reft, more zealous
for dominion, and the politics of their an-

Q^z ceftors

2i8 HISTORY OF

ceftors the regicides, than for the gofpcl
of peace and love, compafs fea and land
to export and diffufe that intolerant fpi-
rit which overthrew the eaftern church,
and has curfed the weftern. For this pur-
pofe, they have fent New-England mi-
nifters as miffionaries to the fouthern co-
lonies, to roufe them out of their religi-
ous and political ignorance j and, what is
very aftonifliing, they fucceeded beft with
the epifcopal clergy, whofe immorality,
vanity, or love of felf-government, or fome
lefs valuable principle, induced them to
join the diffenters of New-England againft
an American Biftiop, from a pure inten-
tion, they faid, of preferving the church
of England in America. If their reward
be not pointed out in the fable of the Fox
and Crane, they will be more fortunate
than moft men. Other miffionaries were
difperfed among theSixNations of Indians, .
who were .under the care of the clergy and
fchoolmafters of the Society for the Pro-
pagation;

Digitized by Googl

CONNECTICUT; 229

pagation of the Gofpel. There, for a
time, wonders were effected ; the Indians
were made drunk with zeal. But when
their fanaticiftn was abated, they curfed
the prpteftaqt religion, and ordered the
miftifters of all denominations to depart
out of their country in a fixed time, on
pain of death. Another band of .faints*
went to Nova Scotia, to convert the un-
converted under the clergy appointed by
the Bifliop of London ; among whom,
however, meeting with little encourage-
ment, they Jhook off the duft of their feet
againji them, and returned home. Thefe
peregrinations, the world was taught to
believe, were undertaken folely to advance
the interefts of religion 5 but righteouf
nefs and peace have not yet kiffed each,
other in New-England : and, befides, the
pious pretences of the Sober Diffenters ill
accorded with their bitter revilings of the.
Society for the Propagation of the Gofpel,.
for fending clergymen to promote the

zio HISTORY OF

fpiritual good of the churchmen among
them.

It is worthy of efpecial notice, that,
among all the epifcopal clergy hitherto
fettled in Connecticut, only one of them
has been accufed, even by their enemies,
of a fcaftdalous life, or of any violation
of the moral law* They have exeroifed
more patience, refignation, and felf-de-
rtial, under their Various trials, fatigues,
and oppreffions, than can be paralleled
elfewhere in the pfefent century. The
countenance of the Society for the Propa-
gation of the Gofpel in foreigrt Paris, and
an allowance of about 650/, per ann. be-
tween 18 of them, have proved the means
of averting from the profeffors of the
church of England that rigour tvhidh has
conftantly marked the conduft of the
General Aflembly and Confociation to-
wards anabaptifts, quakers, &c. &c. Had
the bifliops (hewn as much concern for
the welfare of the church of England

in

CONNECTICUT- 231

in America as the Society has done, they
would have prevented many reproaches
being caft upon them by the diffenters as
hireling (hepherds, and have fecured the
affediions of the American clergy, in
every province, to themfelves, to their
King, and the Britifh government. If
the religion of the church of England
ought to have been tolerated and fupport-
ed in America, (which, confidering the
lukewarmnefs of the bifhops in general,
even fince the Reftoration of Charles II.
feems to have been a dubious point,) po-
licy and juftice fhould long ago have in-
duced the King and Parliament of Great-
Britain to have fent bifhops to America,
that churchmen might at leaft have been
upon an equal footing wkh diffenters.
Againft American bifhops I have never
heard of any objection, either from the
diffenters, or the epifcopal clergy fouth
of Delaware river, fo powerful as the
following , ct That the church of Eng-

Q_4 land

I

i$z HISTORY OF

land increafes in America, without bifhops,
fafler than it does in England, where are
bifhops to fpare." If the diffenters in
America err not in advancing as a fad,
that, fince 17 15, the church of England
under bifhops has been upon the de-
cline, and the proteftant diffenters upon
the increafe, in England ; it may be but
natural to fuppofe that the diflenters in
America wifh to have the Englifh bi-
ihops refident there, and the diffenters

#

in England to retain them, as they ap-
pear to be fo beneficial towards the
growth of the diffenting intereft here:
and fo the diffenters in both countries
difputing about the refidence of the bi-
fhops, merely becaufe the abfence of
them is difadvantageous to the one, and
their prefence advantageous to the other,
would it not be the beft way of ftrength-
ening the intereft of both thofe parties,
and weakening that of the church of
England, to retain half the bifhops in

England,

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 233

England, and fend the other half to Ame-
rica? Againft this plan, furely, no diflen-
ter could objetf: : it will neither add to
the national expencc, nor to the difad-
vantage of England or America ; lince it
promifes to be equally ferviceable to the
proteftant diflenting intereft on both fides
the Atlantic, and will reconcile a diffe-
rence between the proteftant diflenters
that has been fuppofed in New-England
to be the reafon of bifliops not being fent
to above one million of epifcopalians in
America, who are left like flieep in a
wildernefs without a fliepherd, to the
great danger of the proteftant diflenting
religion in thofe parts. Nor can it be
apprehended that this plan of dividing the
bifliops will meet with the difapproba-
tion of the epifcopalians, except a few
licentious clergymen in the American
fouthern colonies, who dread their Lord-
ftiips fober advice and coercive power.
Of all the wonders of the Englifti

church,

*34 HISTORY OF

church, the greateft is, that the rulers of
it fhould hold epifcopacy to be an inftitu-
tion of Chrift, and that the Gofpel is to
be fpread among all nations, and, at the
fame time, fhould refufe the American
churchmen a bilhop, and the fanatics and
heathen all opportunities of enjoying the
Gofpel difpenfation in the purity and luftre
with which it fhines in the mother-country.
If bifhops are neceflary, let America have
them ; if they are not neceflary, let them
be extirpated from the face of the earth :
for no one can be an advocate for their
exiftence merely for the fupport of pomp,
pride, and infolence, either in England
or America,

The Englifh and Dutch have always
kept their colonies under a ftate of religious
perfecution, while the French and Spa-
niards have ailed with generofity in that
refpeft towards theirs. The Dutch pref-
byterians in New- York were hejd in fub-
ordination to the claflis of Amfterdam,

till,

CONNECTICUT. 135

till, a few years fince, they difcovfcred that
fubjeftion to be anticonftitutional and
oppreffive 5 upon which a majority of
the minifters, in their ccetus, ere&ed a
claffis for the ordination of minifters, and
the government of their churches, in de-
fiance of the ecclefiaftical judicatory at
Amfterdam. Mr. Smith, in his Hiftory of
that province, p. 252, juftifies this fchifm
upon the following ground : " The ex-
Ci pence," fays he, " attending the ordi-
lc nation of their candidates in Holland,
u and the reference of their difputes to
lf< the claffis of Amfterdam, is very con-
" fiderable ; and with what confequences,
" the interruption of their correfpondenoe
c< with the European Dutch would bfe
<c attended, in cafe of a war, well de-
" ferves their confideration." Neverthe-
lefs, Mr. Smith agrees with his protcft-
afct diflenting neighbours, that the Ame-
rican epifcopalians fuffered no hardlhip
in being obliged to incur the fame expence

in

■ ■

236 HISTORY OF

in croffing the Atlantic for ordination.
If the Dutch are juftifiable in their fchifm,
I cannot perceive why the American
epifcopalians might not be juftified in a
like fchifm from the bifliop of London.
Had the epifcopalians as little averfion to
fchifm as the proteftant diffenters, the
clergy north of the Delaware would, in
1765, have got rid of their regard for an
Englifo, and accepted of a Greek bifliop,
whom they could have fupported for half
the expence their candidates were at in
going to England for ordination. But
they were faid by fome to be conscien-
tious men, while , others faid they were
IJfachar's fons, couching dqwn beneath their
bur thefts.,

To proceed in my defcription of the
country :

Connecticut is fituated between 41
and 42 deg. N. lat. and between 72
and 73 deg. 50 min. W. long, from

London.

-

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT. 237 .

London. Nbtwithftanding, from this la-
titude, New-London lies 600 miles
nearer the line than the capital of Eng-
land, the winter fets in there a month
before it does here ; and not only con-
tinues longer, but is more fevere. This
extraordinary coldnefs is faid by na-
turalifts to arife from the vaft frozen lakes
and rivers, and mountains eternally co-
vered with fnow, throughout the northern-
moft parts of America. The mountains
may have their fhare in producing this
effedj but I am apt to think the lakes
and rivers have a contrary influence. If
I afk, why lands bordering upon them
are three weeks earlier in their produc-
tions than lands ten miles diftant, it will
readily be imputed to the warmth of the
air, occafioned by the refledtion of the
fun's rays from the water. On the fame
principle, I argue, that the rays of the
fun, multiplied and reflected by ice alfo,
will render the air warmer.. But it may be

further

*3$ HISTORY OF

further faid, that the caufe is, perhaps,
to be afcribed to the foil's being more
fandy and loofe near a lake or river, and,
therefore, naturally warmer, than that
which is remote and not fandy. I reply,
that there are loofe, fandy plains, 20 miles
off any lake or river, three weeks later
in their produdls* and very perceptibly
colder than lands upon them. It would be
to no purpofe to urge, that the damps and
fogs from unfrozen lakes, rivers, &c. af-
fedt the diftant, but not the adjacent
country ; becaufe, I apprehend, there are
no unfrozen lakes, rivers, &c. in the north
of America in winter. Befides, if there
were, the mifts arifing from them would
naturally be intercepted by the firft moun-
tains or forefls they approached. But I
pretend to little philofophical knowledge
in thefe matters : I write from experience ;
and can thence, moreover, affert, that
mountains with fnow upon them are not

fo cold as they would be without it; and

that

CONNECTICUT. 339

that mountains, covered with trees, arc
the coldcft of all places, but, with-
out trees, are not fo cold as fbrefts
on plains. I am clearly of opinion, there-
fore, that not the lakes or rivers, but the
infinite quantity of timber in the immenfe
regions of North America, whether upon
mountains or not, is the grand caufe of
the coldnefs of the winters in Connecti-
cut. I will add, moreover, in fupport
of my argument, that beafts, in the
coldeft weather, are obferved to quit the
woods and woody mountains, for lakes,
rivers, and the cultivated open country ;
and that Connedticut, having now loft
nioft of its timber, is by no means fo in-
tenfely cold in winter as it was forty
years ago, and as Sufquehanna is at pre-
fent, a wildernefs in the fame latitude.
— The fnow and ice commonly cover the
country, without rains, from Chriftmas
to March j then rains, attended with a
boifterous wind from the north and eaft,

melt

a 4 o HISTORY OF

melt the fnow, which converting brooks
into rivers, and rivers into feas, in four
or five days the ice is rent from its groan-
ing banks, in fuch mighty iheets, as
(hake the earth for 20 miles. Nature be-
ing thus in convulfions, the winds turn
her fits into madnefs, by driving ice upon
ice, whofe thunders ceafe not till the

ocean fwallows up the whole. It is

but natural to fuppofe, that the fummers
in Connedticut are much hotter than
thofe in England ; neverthelefs, from
the clearnefs and ferenity of* the fky, the
climate is healthy both to natives and fo-
reigners of all nations. Connedticut is an
holfpital for .the invalids of the Iflands and
fouthern provinces; but, in general, they no
fooner amend their own conflitutions, than
the peftilence, which rages in that of the
province, drives them to Rhode-Ifland or
New-York, where fanaticifm is loft in ir-
religion. — The people of Connedticut rec-
kon time almoft five hours later than the

Englifli.

Digitized by Googi

edNrtECTiCUTV m

fehglifh. The 16ngeft day confifts of*
jSfteen hours, the fhorteft of nine.— The
brightnefs of the fan, moon, and ftars,
together with their reverberating rays on
ice, fnow, waters, trees, mountains, peb-
bles, and flat ftones, dazzle and weaken
the eyes of the New-Englanders to fuch
a degree, that, in general, they are obliged
to ufe glafles before they are fifty years of
age. For the moft part, alfo, they have
bad teeth, which have been afcribed to
the extreme heats and colds of fummer
and winter; but, as the Indians and
negroes, in the fame climate, have re-
markably good teeth, it may be faid, with
great reafon, that the many indulgences
of the one, and the temperance of the
other, and not the heats and colds, are
the caufes of bad and good teeth.

Soil and P*or>ucE.-The foil is various
in different parts of the province ; in fome
black, in others brown, and elfewhere
red, but all rich. Some plains are fandy,

R and

* 4 2 HISTORY OF

and of a whitifh colour ; and thefe pro*
duce rye, beans, and Indian corn. The
meadows and low lands are excellent paftu*
rage, and yield great crops of hay. The
hills and uplands have a rich, deep foil, but
are fubjeft to droughts in July and Au-
guft, which in many places are relieved by
water drawn from rivers, ponds, and
brooks, in troughs and ditches. The crops
of European grain are always good, when
the fnow, which in general is the only
manure, covers the earth from Decern*
ber to March. One acre commonly yields
from 20 to 30 bufhels of wheat ; of In*
dian corn, from 40 to 60 bufliels on ri*
ver land, and from 30 to 40 on hilly
land : but it is to be obferved, that one
bufhel of it raife4 on hilly land weighs
131b. more than a bufhel raifed on river
land. AH European grains flourifh here ;
and the grafs is as thick and much longer
than in England. M^ife, or Indian corn, is
planted in hillocks three feet apart, five ken-

>

Digitized by Google

CONNECTICUT 1 . 14J

nels and two pumkin- feeds in a hillock i
and between the hillocks are planted ten
beans irt a hillock : fo that, if the feafoij
prove favourable, the beans or the pum-
kins are worth as much as the com, If,
from an acre, the crop of corn be ap
bufhels, add the beans and pumkins,
and it will be equal to 60 bufhels: fo,
if there be 60 bulhels of corn, a pro-
portionate growth of beans and pum-
kins will render the produft equal
to 180 bufhels. One man plants an
acre in a day \ in three days he hoes the
fame three times ; and fix days more
fuffice for plowing and gathering the crop.
For thefe ten days work, the price i$
thirty fhillings ; and allowing 10s. for the
ufe of the land, the whole expence is 2/. and
no more, whilft the corn is worth two {hiU
lings per bufhel. The gain is feldom lef$
than 300, and oftener 600 per cent f It is
thus that the poor man becomes rich in
f few years, if prudent and induftrious,—

R z Th$

a 4 4 HISTORY OF

The limits of Connecticut are reckoned to
comprize 5,000,000 acres, half of which
are fuppofed to be fwallowed up in rivers,
ponds, creeks, and roads. The inhabi-
tants are eftimated at 200,000; fo that
there remain but 1 2i acres for each indi-
vidual. Let it now be confidered, that
the people buy no provifions from other
provinces, but, on the contrary, export
full as much as they confume, and it will
appear that each perfon has in fadt only
6^ acres for his own fupport, two of
which muft be fet apart for the growth
of wood, the only fuel of the colony.
Should I not then be juftified in faying
that Conne&icut is as good and flourifli-
ing land as any part of Great-Britain ?

The face of the country refembles
Devonfliire, Glocefterfhire, Surry, and
Kent. The farmers divide their lands into
four, five, and ten acres, by ftone walls or
ports and rails. The roads from north
to fouth are generally level and good;

CONNECTICUT. 245

4

from eaft to weft, hilly and bad for car-
riages.

The various fruits are in greater
perfedtion than in England. The peach
and apple are more lufcious, beautiful,
and large: iooo peaches are produced
from one tree $ five or fix barrels of cyder
from one apple-tree. Cyder is the com-
mon drink at table. The inhabitants have
a method of purifying cyder by froft, and
feparating the watery part from the fpirit,
which, being fecured in proper veflels,
and coloured by Indian corn, becomes
in three months fo much like Madeira
wine, that Europeans drink it without
perceiving the difference. They make
peachy and perry 5 grape, cherry, and
currant wines ; and good beer of pum-
kins, molaffes, bran of wheat, fpruce,
and malt. The fpruce is the leaves and
limbs of the fir-tree ; their malt is made
of maife, barley, oats, rye, chets, and
wheat.— The pumkin, or pompion, i$

R 3 one

fe 4 6 HISTORY OF

one of the greateft bleffings, &nd held
very facred, in New-England. It is a
native of America. From one feed often
grow 40 pumkins, each weighing from
40 to 60 pounds, and, when ripe, of the
colour of the marygold. Each pum-
kin contains 500 feeds, which, being
boiled into a jelly, is the Indian infallible
cure for the ftrangury. Of its meat are
made beer, bread* cuftards, fauce, mo*
Jaffes, vinegar, and, on thankfgiving days,
pies, as a fubftitute for what the Blue
Laws brand as antichriftian minced pies.
Its (kin, or fhell, ferves for caps to cut
the hair by (as already mentioned and
very ufeful lanthorns.— There are no trees,
grain, or fruits, growing in England, bu<
v/hat grow in Connecticut. The Englifli
oak has been thought much fuperior to
the American. Whatever policy may be
in this opinion, I will venture to fay there
is no truth in it, in refpedt to the white oak
Of Connecticut* which is tough, clofe, hard,

an4

CONNECTICUT, 247

And elaftic, as the whale-bone dried. The
red, black, and chefnut oak, are, indeed,
much inferior to the white oak. The
afh, elm, beech, chefnut, walnut, hazel,
faflafras, famach, maple, and butternut,
are the chief timber-trees of this province,
and grow to an amazing bulk. The laft
is a native of America, and takes its name
from a nut it produces, of the (hape and
fize of a pullet's egg, which contains a
meat larger than any Englifli walnut, in
tafte like frefti butter : it alfo makes an
excellent pickle. The butternut furnifhes
fine, but tender boards 3 and its bark dyes
black, and cures cutaneous diforders. In
February this tree yields a fap, of which
are made fugar, molaffes, and vinegar.
The upland maple- tree alfo affords a fap
equally good $ and both faps make a plea-
fant beverage without boiling, and the belt
punch ever drank in Connedticut.

Here are many iron mines, nay moun-
tains of iron ore > and, if they had

R 4 beea

* 4 2 HISTORY OP

been attended to with the fame diligence
as the farms, they would have fupplied
Great Britain with iron, to the great pre-
judice of Sweden, and other European
nations. For this commercial lofs, the
inhabitants are indebted to their own
quarrel jealoufy, and religious feuds, to-
gether with the intrigues of their neigh-
bours. Some pig and bar iron they
fend, out of pure fpite and folly, to New*
York or Bofton, to be fhipped for Eng-r
land by the merchants there, who always
pay fo much lefs for it, as the duty
on Swedilh iron amounts to; fo that Con*
neclicut allows a duty to thofe merchants,
tvhich they do not pay themfelves.

Englifh, Barbary, and Dutch horfes
abound in this province : they are not fo
heavy, but more mettlefome and hardy
than in England. Here are more {heep
than in any two colonies in America: their
Wool alio is better than that of the fheep in
{he other colonics, yet not fo fine and good

Si

CONNECTICUT. 249

as the Englifti. A common (hjeep weighs
{>olb. and fells for a dollar, or 4*. bd*
The horned cattle are not fo large as
the Englifh ; yet there have been a few in-
fiances of oxen, fix years old, weighing
19 00 cwt. each. The fat hogs here excel
any in England; many weigh five or
600 cwt. Connecticut pork is far fuperior
to any other.

There are only two fmall parks of deer
In Connecticut; but plenty of rabbits*
hares, grey, black, ftriped and red fquirrels,
otters, minks, racoons, weazels, foxes,
\yhappernockers, woodchucks, cubas, and
flanks. The following defcriptions of
the four laft-mentioned animals may b§
new to the reader :

The whappernocker is fomewhat big*
ger than a weazel, and of a beautiful
brown-red colour. He lives in the woods
on worms and birds; is fo wild that
flo man can tame him ; and, as he never
4}uit$ his harbou; jn the day-time, is only

. i j« HISTORY OF

to be taken by traps in the night. Of
the (kins of thefe animals, which arc co-
vered with an exceeding fine fur, are
ttiade muffs at the price of 30 or 40
guineas apiece: fo that it is not with-
out reafon the ladies pride themfelves on
<he pofleffion of this fmall appurtenance of
female habiliment.

The Woodchuck, erroneoufly Called
the badger by fome perfons, is of the fize
of a large racoon, in form refembles
a guinea-pig, and, when eating, makes a
ftoife like a hog, whence he is named
"Woodchuck* or Chuck of the Wood*
His legs are fhort $ but his claws fharp,
leetb ftrong, and courage great, on occa-
fions of felf-defence. He burrows in the
earth, feeds on clover and pumkins du*
fing fummer, and flceps all the winter*
His flcfli is good to eat, and his fkin
tfiakes excellent leather.

The Cuba I fuppofe to be peculiar to
New-England* The male is of the fize

of

•ogle

CONNECTICUT. i S%

of a large cat, has four long tufhes
fliarp as a razor, is very a&ive in de-
fending himfelf, and, if he has the firft
blow, will fpoil a dog before he yields*
His lady is peaceable and harmlefs, and
depends for proteftion upon her fpoufe j
and, as he has more courage than pru-
dence, always attends him to moderate
his temper. She fees danger, and he fears
it not. She chatters. at him while he is
preparing for battle * and, if (he thinks the
danger is too great, fhe runs to him, and
clings about his neck, fcreaming her
extreme diftrefs — his wrath abates, and
by her advice they fly to their caves. In
like manner, when he is chained, and ir-
ritated into the greatefl rage by an imper-
tinent dog, his lady, who is never chained,
will fly about his neck and kifs him, and
in half a minute reftore him to calmnefs 4
He is very tender of all his family, and
fiever forfakes them till death diflblve$
their union. — What further fhews the

mag-

I
I

HISTORY OF

magnanimity of this little animal, he
never manifefts the leaft anger towards
* his lady, though I have often feen her
extremely loquacious, and, as I gueffed,
impertinent to him. How happy would
the rational part of the creation become,
if they would but follow the example of
the'c in;.uona! beafts ! I the more readily
fuppofe the Cuba to be peculiar to New-
England, not only from my never having
yet fcen the creature defcribed, but alfo
on account of its perverfe obfervance of
Carnival and neglcd of Careme.

The Skunk is alio peculiar to America,
&nd very different from the Pole-Cat,
which he is fometimes called. He is black
ftripcd with white j and of the fize of a
fmall racoon, with a (harp nofe. He
burrows in the earth like a fox, feeds
like a fox on fowls and eggs, and has
flrong teeth and claws like a fox i
he has long hair, and thick and good
fori is the beauty of the wildernefs;

walks,

by Google

CONNECTICUT. t$3

walks flow, and cannot run fo fall as a
man ; is not wild, but very familiar with
every creature. His tail, which is fhaggy,
and about one foot in length, he turns
over his back at pleafure, to make him-
felf appear larger and higher than he
really is. When his tail is thus lying on
his back, he is prepared for war, and ge-
nerally conquers every enemy that lives
by air; foron it lies his only weapon, about
one inch from his body, of rump, in a
fmall bladder or bag, which is full of an
eflence, whofe tint is of the brighteift yel~
low, and odour fomewhat like the fmeH
of garlick, but far more exquifite and
piercing than any volatile fpirit known to
chemifts. One drop will fcent a houfe
to fuch a degree, that mufk, with the
help of brimftone and tar burnt, will not
expel it in fix months. The bladder
in which this eflence lies is worked
by the animal like an engine, pump,
pr fquirt; and when the creature is

#flaulted #

*54 HISTORY OF

ai&uited, he turns hie head from hU
enemy 9 and difcharges from his tail the
eflence, which fills the neighbouring air
with a mift that deftroys the pofiibility
of living in it. I have feen a large
houfe-dog, by one difcharge of the Skunk,
retire with {hame and ficknefs ; and, at
another time, a bullock bellowing as if a
dog had held him by his nofe. Was it
not for man, no creature could kill this
animal, which, inftead of the Lion, ought
to be crowned King of Aniqials, as well
on account of his virtues and complai-
iance, as his courage. He knows hi*
forte; he fears nothing, he conquers all ;
yet he is civil to all, and never gives, as
he will not take, offence, His virtues are
many. The wood of Calamba, which
cures fainting-fits and ftrokes of the palfy,
and is worth its weight in gold, is far lefs
valuable than the above-mentioned e&
fence of this animal The bag is ex-
tra&ed whole from bis tail, and the effence

pre*

CONNECTICUT. »$j

preferved in glafs $ nothing elfe will con*
fine it. One drop fufficiently impreg^
nates a quart of fpring water $ and half %
gill of water thus impregnated is a dofe. It
cures the hiccups, afthmatic, hyfteric, pa*
ralytic, and hedtic diforders; and the
odour prevents faintnefs. The flefli of this
animal is excellent food $ and its oil curei
fprains, and contra£tion6 of the finews.

The feathered tribe in Connecticut are,
turkeys, geefe, ducks, and all kinds of
ham-door poultry ; innumerable flock*
of pigeons, which fly to the fouth in
autumn ; cormorants of all fizes 5 hawks,
owls, ravens, and crows; partridges, quails,
heath-hens, blackbirds, fnipes, larks, hi^
miiitys, whipperwills, dewminks, ro-
bins, rens, fwaliows, fparrows, the flax,
crimfon, white and blue birds, &c. &e,
to which I muft add the humming-bird,
though it might wantonly be ftiled the
emprefs of the honey-bees, partaking with
them of the pink, tulip, rofe, daify, and

Ptber

l$6 HlStOR^ OF

Dther aromatics.— The partridges in NeW*
England are near as large as a Darkingj
fowl; the quails, as an Englifh partridge i
and the robins twice as big as thofe in
England. — The dew-mink, fo named
from its articulating thofe fyllables, is
black and white> and of the fize of an
Englifh robin. Its flefh is delicious.—*
The Humility is fo called, becaufe it fpeak$
the word humility, and feldom mounts
high in the air. Its legs are long enough
to enable it to out-run a dog for a little
way 5 its wings long and narrow, body
maigre, and of the fize of a blackbird's ;
plumage variegated with white, black,
blue, and red. It lives on tadpoles, fpawn,
and worms j has an eye more piercing
than the falcon, and the fwiftnefs of an
eagle. Hence it can never be fliot ; for
it fees the fparks of fire even before they
enkindle the powder, and, by the extreme
rapidity of its flight, gets out of reach in
an inftant. It is never known to light

upon .

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CONNECTICUT. 257

upon a tree, but is always feen upon the
ground or wing. Thefe birds appear in
New-England in fummer only; what
becomes of them afterwards is not difco-
vered. They are caught in fnares, but
can never be tamed.

The Whipperwill has fo named itfelf
by its nodlurnal fongs. It is alfo called
jthe pope, by reafon of its darting with
great fwiftnefs, from the clouds almoft
to the ground, and bawling out Pope I
which alarms young people and the fana«-
tics very much, cfpecially as they know
k to be an ominous bird. However, it
has hitherto proved friendly, always
giving travellers and others notice of atj
approaching ftorm, by faluting them
*very minute with Pope ! Pope ! It flies
only a little before fun-fet, unleis for
&\$ purpofe of giving notice of a ftorm.
It never deceives the people with falfe
news. If the tempeft is to continue lqqg ?
£he augurs appear in Socks, and iiothing

£58 HISTORY OF

can be heard but the word Pope ! Pope !
The whipperwill is about the fize of a
cuckow, has a fhort beak, long and narr
row wings, a large head, and mouth
enormous, yet is not a bird of prey. Un-
der its throat is a pocket, which it fills
with air at pleafure, whereby it founds
forth the fatal words Pope in the day, am}
Whip-her-l-will in the night. The fuper-
ftitious inhabitants would have exorcifed
this harmlefs bird long ago, as an emif-
fary from Rome, and an enemy to the
American vine, had they not found out
that it frequents New- England only in the
fummer, and prefers the wildernefs to a
palace. Neverthelefs, many .cannot but
believe it to be a fpy from fome foreign
court, an agent of antichrift, a lover of
perfecution, and an enemy of proteftants,
becaufe it fings of whipping, ahd of the
pope, which they think portends cnifery
#nd a change of religion.

,7he principle infers are, the hornet,

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CONNECTICUT, *£f

bull-fly, glow-bug, humble-bee, and the
$>laek and yellow wafp.

The Bull- fly is armed with a coat of
pail, which it can move from one placf
to another, as Aiders to a window are
pipyed. Its body is about an inch long,
and its horns half an inch, very (harp,
and ftrong. It has fix feet, with claws
fharp as needles, and runs faft. It alfo
flies with fome fpeed. Jn fucking fh^
blood or juice of its prey, this creature
holds the fame in its claws, otherwife the
prey is carried between its horns.

The Glow-bug both crawls and flies,
and is about half an inch long. Thefe
jnfedts fly in the fummer evenings, near-
Jy feven feet from the ground, in fuel*
multitudes, that they afford fufficient light
for people to walk by. The brightnefs,
jioweyer, is interrupted by twinklings s
Jbut they are inftantaneous and fhort as.
jbofe of the eye; fo that darknefs n9
jboner takes places than it yaniflies.

*6o HIST OR Y OF

The Humble-bee is almoft as large as
the humming-bird, but cannot fly near
fo fafh It builds its neft in the ground,
where it make3 an honey-comb of the
fize of a man's hand, and fills it with
bee-bread, wax, and honey excelling
that of the honey-bee in tafte. Two or
three begin, and having ftiortly multi-
plied to about forty, the young ones leave
home as foon as they can fly, to begin
new fettlements. Thefebees are wrongly
named ; they are warriors, and only want
quantity of poifon to be more fatal than
rattle-fnakes. The honey-bees can fting
but once, while the Humble-bees will
fting a thoufand times. Their body is
black and white ; wings of a Doric co-
lour ; fight piercing hearing quick
and temper cruel.

Among the reptiles of Connedticut are
the black, the water, milk, and ftreaked
fnakes, all harmlefs. The belled or
jrattle fnakes are large, and will gorge 3,

-

commotf

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CONNECTICUT,

Common eat. They are feldom feen from
their rocky dens. Their bite is mortal, if
not fpeedily cured ; yet they are generous
and without guile : before they bite, they
rattle their bells three or four times; but,
after that, their motion is fwift, and ftroke
fure. The Indians difcovered, and in-
formed the Englifh of, a weed, common
in the country, which, mixed with fpittle,
will extradt the poifon.

The toads and frogs are plenty in the
fpring of the year. The tree-frogs,
whipperwills, and hooping-owls, fere-
iiade the inhabitants every night with
mufic far excelling the harmony of the
trumpet, drum, and jews-harp.

The Tree-frog cannot be called an in-
fed, a reptile, or one of the winged hoft.
tie has four legs, the two foremoft fhort,
with claws (harp as thofe of a fquirrcl:
the hind legs five inches long, and folding
by three joints. His body is about as big
as the firft joint of a man's thumb. Un-

S 3 der

i6i HISTORY OF

iJer His throat is a wind-bag, which aflirti
him in iinging the word I-fa-dc, all the
night. When it rains, and is very dark,
he fings the loudeft. His voice is not fd
pleafing as that of a nightingale j but this
would be a venial imperfe&ion, if he
would but keep filence on Saturday nights,
and not for ever prefer I-fa-ac to Abra^
ham and "Jacob. He has more elafticity
in his long legs thaii any cither creature
yet knowri. By this means He will leapi
five yards up a tree, fattening himfeif to
it by his fore-feet ; and in a moment will
hop or fpring as far from one tree to ano-
ther. It is from the finging of the tree-
frog, that the Americans have acquired
ihe name of Little Ifadc. Indeed, like a
certain part of them, the creature appears
very devout, noify, arbitrary; and phleg-
matic^ and aflbciates with none but what
fegree with him in his ways!

The oyfters, clam§; quauhogs, lobftersj
kr&fesj iind fifty art inriurtieirabb. lTh£

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CONNECTICUT* 263

Iliad, bafs, and falmon, more than half
fupport the province. The fturgeon is
made no ufe of. From the number of
feans employed to catch the fifli pafling
up to the lakes, one might be led to fup-
pofe the whole muft be flopped * y yet, in
fix months time they return to the fea
with fuch multitudes of young ones as
fill Conne&icut river for many days, and
no finite being can number them*

Population and Inhabitants. —
Connecticut, in proportion to its extent,
exceeds every other colony of Englifli
America* as well ih the abundance of
people as cultivation of foil. The num-
ber of the firft fettlers at Saybrook, in
1634, was 200; in 1636, at Hertford,
106; in 1637, at Newhaven, J 57: in
all 463, In 1670, the refidents in thefe
three fettlements amounted to 15,000, of
whom 20CO were men capable of bea -
ing arms; the reft, old men, women, and

S 4 children.

tit HISTORY OF

Children. In i6Soj the refidents vrtf6
20,000 ; in 1770, 200,000. Hence* if
appears, that the people of Connecticut
did, during the 90 years preceding the
laft-mchtioned date, increafe 2000 each
year ; i. e. 20,000, in a period ot 90 years,
doubled their number teii tiiries over.
Should the 200,000, which exifted in
Connecticut in 1770, double their num^
bcr in the fame manner for the enfuing
90 years, the province will, in the year
i860, contain 2,000,0003 and, if the fight-
ing men fliould then be in the fame pro-
portion to the reft of the inhabitants, as
they were in 1670, they will amount to
no lefs than 266,000. I fee ho reafon in

nature why it may not be fo. Since

1670, the emigrations from Europe, or
elfewhere, to Connecticut* have been
trifling in comparifon to the emigrations
from Connecticut to New-Jerfey, New-
Hampfhire, MalTachufets - Bay, Nova*
Scotia, &c. &c.

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CONNECTICUT! fc6£

i

Manufactures. —The inhabi-
tants manufacture coarfc and fine flannels,
linen, cotton, and woolen cloths* woolen
(lockings; mittens, and gloVes; for their
own ufe: they fpin much cotton and
flax; and make common and the beft
kind of beaver hats. Ship-building is a
great branch of bufinefs in Conne&icut,
which is carried on much cheaper than
in Europe* by means bf faw-mills worked
by water; The planks are cut by a gang
of ten or twelve faws, more or lefs, as oc-
cafion requires, while the carriage is backed
but once; Great part of the (hip-timber
is allb cut by water* Anchor-making is
dofte by water and trip-hammers, without
much fatigue to the workmen. Diftil-
lation and paper-making encreafe every
year* Here are many rope-walks, which
vrant neither hemp nor flax ; and for-
merly here were rolling and flitting works*
but they have been fupprefled by an
aCl of parliament! to the ruin of many
families. Com-

l$6 HISTORY OF

Commerce. The exports of Corii

hedticut confift chiefly of all forts of pn*
vifions, pig and bar iron^ pot and pearl
aflies, ftaves, lumber, boards, iron pots
and kettles, anchors, planks, hoops, fliin-
gles, live cattle, horfes, &c. &c. To
what amount thefe articles are annually
exported may be judged of frdm the fol-
lowing very low eftimate :

Pork — — £93^75°

Beef ~ — — - j 00,000
Mutton, — — 5,000
Horfes, — — * 40,000
Wheat —

— 340,000
Butter, cheele, rye, oats, onions,!

tobacco, cyder, maife, beans, L 90,000
fowls, eggs, tallow^and hides, J
Ships* anchors, cables, cordage, j
pig and bar iron, pots, ket-(

1 i t /7 y> 2 co.ooo

ties, pot and pearl a£hes,f J
boards, and lumber, j

1 — — &

918,750
befides

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CONNECTICUT. i6j

bcfides hay, fifli, &c. &c. The falmdn^
large and final!, are exported both pickled
and dried.

In the above ftatement <tf exports; I
have allowed only for horfes bred in the
fcolony , and not for thofe brought for expor-
tation frond Canada and other northern
parts, which are very numerous. The
{calculation of the wheat, the common
pricb of which is three (hillings fterling
per bufhel, is founded upon the allowed
fcircumftance of the exportation being
equal to the confiimption, viz. 2,600,000
buflielS among 200,000 perfons, accord-
ing to the acknowledged heceffary por-
tion of 13 bufhels for one perfon. The
pork is eftimated afceotding to the re-
puted number of houfes in the province,
Viz. 30,000, allowing 1^ barrel for each
houfe, at 2/. jroi. per barrel.

The imports, in 1680, when the num-
ber of inhabitants was 20,000, amounted
b ib}O0o/. i. e. at the rate of ios. for each

in-

268 HISTORY OF

individual; Suppofing the increafc of
imports only to keep pace with that of
the people, they would, in 1770* when
the province contained 200,000 fouls,
amount to 1 00,000/ $ but, I believe thatf
to be not above one quarter of their
value.

Bofton, New -York, and Newport*
have the greateft fhare of the exports of
Conne&ieut, and pay for them in Eng«*
li(h or Dutch goods, at cent, per cent,
profit to themfelves, upon a moderate
computation. What few of them are
fent by the colony to the Weft- Indies are
paid for honourably in rum, molafles,
fugar, fait, brandy, cotton, and money.

Confequences very prejudicial attend
the commerce of Connecticut, thus prin->
cipally carried on through the medium of
the neighbouring colonies. I will here
point out one material inftance. Con-*
iiecticut pork, a conliderable article of
fcfrportation* excels all other in America,

and

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CONNECTICUT. 269

and fetches a half- penny more per pound.
Of this difference in price the merchant*
of New- York, Bofton, &c. have taken
care to avail themfelves, by mixing their
own inferior pork with that of Connect
ticut, and then felling the whole at the
full price of the latter. This fair dealing
was managed thus The pork of Con*
ne&icut is packed up in barrels, each of
which, according to ftatute regulation,
1 ttiuft weigh 22olb. and contain not more
than fix legs and thee half-heads. The
packer is to mark the barrel before it is
fliipped,and is liable to a heavy puni(hment,

if there fhould be found four half-heads
and feven legs in the barrel when it is
delivered for exportation. But of large
pork, two legs and half a head will be a fuf-
ficient proportion of thofe parts in a barrel.
This gives the New-York and Boftonian
merchants an opportunity of taking out
the beft part of the Connecticut pork, and
^ubftituting in its place an equal weight of

their

1

I

*y© HISTORY OF

fheir own, whereby it often happens, tha$
four legs and two half-heads are found io
a barrel of reputed Conne&icut pork.
Though it then remains a barrel accord?
ing to the ftatute, it cannot but be fup-
pofed that this pradtice mud greatly hurt
the credit of Conne&icut pork, witty
all who are not apprized that it pafles
through the renowned provinces of Maf-
fachufets-Bay and New-York.

The people of Connecticut have long
been fenfible of the many and great im-
pofitions and difadvantages which befef
their prefent commercial fyftem ; yet,
though fufficient power is in their own
hands, they have no inclination or refo-
lution to attempt a reformation of it.
The reafon is, the mutual animofities and
rancour fubfifting between the dominions
of New-London, Hertford, aod Newha-
ven, each of which prefers the general
ruin of the province to a coalition upoij
any terms fhort of conqueft. The feeds

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CONNECTICUT.

of this difcord were thus fown by their
two infidious neighbours. The port of
New- London is by far the beft in the
province, and extremely well calculated
for its capital and grand commercial em-
porium ; and, about 50 years fince, a
number of merchants there began to ex-
port and import goods, feemingly to the
fatisfa&ion of the whole colony, but to
the great difpleafure and chagrin of thofe
of New -York and Bofton, whom it
threatened with ruin* Something was ne-
ceffary to be done. The poor Boftonians>
according to cuftom, privately fent to
their faithful allies at Hertford, to in-
fufe into them an idea that their town
ought to be the capital, and not New-
London, which belonged to the dominion
of Saffacus, who had murdered fo many
chriftians ; adding, that, if they would en-
gage in fuch an attempt in favour of
Hertford, the Bofton merchants would
/upply them with goods cheaper thkn

they

*7* HISTORY OF

they $ould buy them at New-London^
The good people of Hertford, forgetting
their river was frozen five months in the
year, remembering how they had obtained
their charter, hating SafTacus, and'loving
felf, immediately gave into the defigning
Boftonians fuggeftioos, and refufed to
receive any more gpods from NewT
London. The friendly Mynheers of
New- York played off a fimilar trick
upon Newhaven, and promifed to fupporl
that town as the capital of the colony.
The plots fucceeded. Contention and
quarrels arofc among the three parties,
the effedls of which remain to this day.
The merchants of New-London were
obliged to quit Connecticut ; and the
trade of the province was chiefly divided
between New- York and Bofton, at cent,
per cent, difadvantage to an ill-natured co*
lony, and at the fame advantage to its
cunning neighbours. When party-fpirit
yields to felkiritere#, New-Londoi* will

agaifl

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CONNECTICUT. 272

again become the emporium of Connec-
ticut, where merchants will fettle and
import goods from foreign countries at
35/. per cent, extra profit to the confu-
mers, and 15/. per cent, extra profit to
themfelves, and withal fave as much in
the exports from Connecticut by taking
the full price and bounty of its goods at fo-
reign jmrkets, inftead of yielding the
fame to the people of New- York and
$ofton, who have too Jong kept 200,000
people as negroes upon their own farms,
to fupport and maintain twice 20,000
artful citizens. Thus has ConnefticuJ:,
by contention and folly, impoverifhed,
and kept in obfciirity, the moft frpitfql
colony in America, to fupport the fame
and grandeur of Bofton and New-Yorlc
among the trading nations of Europe.
When I view the lefs fertile foil of Bofton,
the conference of merchants, the pride of
the pretended Gofpel minifters, the blind-
liefs of bigotry, and the mercantile igno-

*74 HISTORY OF

ranee of farmers, I forgive Bofton, New-
York, and Rfrode-Iftand, but condemn
Connecticut. I will leave a legacy to the
people of my native country, which pof-
fibly may heal their divifions, and render
them partial , to their own province, as the
Boftoniaos are to theirs. It conlifc of
two lines :

*

« But if men knaves and fools will be,
"They'll be afs-ridden by all three."

Revenue and Expenditure.— In
1680, the whole corporation were efti-
mated to bf worth 120,000/. They then
had 30 fmall veflels, 26 churches, and
(as above mentioned) 20,000 inhabitants.
If their value had increafed only in pro-
portion with the inhabitants, who, I have
laid, amounted to 200,000 in 1770,
the corporation \yould then have been
worth no more than 1,200,000/. a film
not equal to 1 os. per acre, though in a
great meafure cultivated, and furrounded

with

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CONNECTICUT. tf$

with ftone walls, which alone coft ten (hit*
lings by the rod: but in that year, viz.
land fold in Connecticut from 4 to 50
pounds p$r acre $ their vcffch alfo had
encreafcd to above 1100 1 and the churches
(Jeaft in proportion) to about 300. The
true: tpethod, therefore, of forming th*
valuation of Connecticut in 1770, ie f
not by calculating upon its ftate fc|
1680, but by eftimating the number of
its acres, appreciating them by purchafcs
then made, and adding a due allo^r
ance for the ftoek, &c. Now, Con?
ne&icm has been reputed to cqntaiii
?,$oo^>oq folid aeres, which, at the very
moderate price of 8A each, are wortfy
20,oqo,ooq/. Aerl.and 14*000,000/. being
added as a reafonable allowance for ftock,
fhipping, &c. the whole valuation of Con*
ne&icut would amount Jo 34,000,000/,
•—The annual income, fuppofing the
£,500,600 acres and flock rented at ios f

T z f*t

s 7 6 HISTORY OF

per acre, one with another, would be
1,250,000/,

A lift of rateables, tailed the General
Lift, is the foundation upon which the re-
venue is raifed in Connecticut, being the
valuation of a man's property by the year.
It is formed in the following manner :
One acre of land, per ann. oL ios. od.
One houfe

One horfe

One ox — •

One fwine

One cow — - ~
One two-year-old heifer
One yearling ditto —
One poll or male, between!

16 and 60 years
One lawyer for his faculty
One veflel of one hundred tons 10

3
3
4
1

>

3
2

1

o
o
o
o
o
o
o

0
0

o

0
0
0
0

1800

20

o
o

0
0

£- 6 5 10 o
Every perfon annually gives in his lift,

fpecifying

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CONNECTICUT. 177

fpecifying the property he poflefTes, to
the feledtmen, who fend the fum-total of
each town to the General Aflembly,
when a tax of one (hilling, more or lefs,
according to public exigencies, is impofed
on each pound.

According to the general lift of the co*
lony for 1770, I have under-rated its an-
nual worth, which then was fixed at
2,000,000/. for, though that lift includes
the poll-tax of 18/. per head for all
males above 16 and under 60 years of
age, the faculty tax, and the tax on
(hipping, all which may amount to
600,000/. there neverthelefs remains a
furplus of 150,000/. above my calcula-
tion. But fuppofing a tax of one fhil-
ling in the pound (the common colonial
affeffment) on 1,250,000/. the produce
will be 62,500/, exclufive of the poll, fa-
culty, and other taxes. Small, however,
as this afleflfment is, it has never been
collected without much difficulty and
clamour; yet the people lofe, by trading

T 3 with

m Ml STORY Of

faith Boftop, New- York, and Newport itf
Exports and imports, 6qo,ooo/. annually—*
and thatfbr nothing, but to oblige the traders
of thole towns, and difoblige ope another
The annual expenditure of the colony

is as follows : t

Salary of the Governor ^.300

•— — Lieutenant-Governor — 150

^ Trcafurer — 150

Secretary — — 150

-*r~m The 12 Affiftants in Coqneil 1 ^

with tl^c Governor 3

-+* 146 Reprefentatives — ^ 250Q

— 300 Minifters, 100/. each 30000

Aliowancefor contingencies 28450

w-.— — .

. , Total 62500

The above-mentioned lift of the colony*
including the poll-tax,. &c. would afford
$2,500/. more for contingencies !

Religion and Government. — Pro*
perly fpeaking* the Connedlicutenfians
have neither, nor ever had ) but, in pre-
tence; they excel whole world, ex-
cept

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CONNECTICUT. 279

75

p

Ki

•

the names of the multifarious religious
fe£ls among them, it might afford the
reader a pleafant idea of the prolific in-
vention of mankind. I fhall mentiort a
few of the moft confiderable $ fpecifying
the number of their congregations.

Congregations.
Epifcopalians — 73
Scotch prefby terian 1
Sandemanian — — 3
Ditto baftard — t
Lutherans — 1

Baptifts 6

Seveii-day ditto — - 1
Quakers 4
Davifoniaris — 1

Separatifts 40

Rogereens — %

Bowlifts ■ 1

Old Lights 80

New Lights • 87

300

T4 An

ago HISTORY OF

An account of feme of thefe fedls
is to be found in the Hiftory of Mun-
fter ; but the Bowlifts, Separatifts, arid
Davifonians, are peculiar to the co-
lony. The firft allow of neither fing-
ing not prayer i the fecond permit only
the Elefl: td prays and the third teach
univerfal falvation, and deny the exift-
ence of an hell or devils. The pref-
byterians and episcopalians arc held by all
to be the enemies of Zion, and the Ame-
rican vine ; nay, the former are even
tvorfe hated than the churchmen* becaufc
they appear to be diflenters, and are not
genuine enemies to epifedpacy, but " hold
the truth in unrighteoufnefs." Some tra-
vellers have called the fanatical fedts of
Conne&icut by the general name of Le-
gionifts, becaufe they are many j and
others have called them Pumguntums,
Cantums, &c. becaule they groan and
fing with a melancholy voice their prayety
fermons, and hymns. This difgufting

tone

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CONNECTICUT. %i%

tofte has utterly excluded oratory from
them ; and, did they not fpeak the Eng-
lift language in greater perfeftion than
any other of the Americans, few (hangers
would difoblige them with their com-
pany* Their various fyftems are founded
upon thofe of Peters, Hooker, and
Davenport, of which I have already
fpoken ; yet the modern teachers have
made fo many new-fangled refinements in
the do&rine and difcipline of thofe patri-
archs, and of one another, as render
their paffion for ecclefiaftical innovation
and tyranny equally confpicuous.— But
the whole are enveloped with fuper-
ftition, which here pafles for religion, as
much as it does in Spain, France, or
among the favages, I will inftanee that
of an infant in 176 I. Some children
were piling fand-heaps in Hertford, when
a boy, only four years old, hearing it
thunder at a diftance, left his companions
and ran home to his mother, crying out,

M Mother 1

I

iH HISTORY Of

" Mother ! mother ! give me my book,
" for I heard God fpeaking to ine»" His
mother gave him his book, and he read
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, &c. then gave up
his bdok, faying, « Here, mother, take
•« my book j I mtift go to my fand-
«• houfes ; now I am not afraid of all the
41 thunder and lightning in the Wtfrid."

As to their government, we may com-
pare it to the regularity of a mad mob
in London, with this exception, the itaob-
a&s Without law, and the colomfts by
law. They teach that legal righteoufneffr
is not faving grace. Herein they are
right; but it appears they believe not
their own dodtrine : for legal rlghteouf-
nefs is their only Jhield afid buckler.
In January county court, at Hertford only,
i ( 768, there were above 3000 fuits on the
docket) and there are four of thofe Court*
in a year, and perhaps never lefs fuits at a
court than 2000.

In the courfe of thifr work, my readert

mud

1

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CONNECTICUT. 2«j

mtlft neceffarily have obferved, in fome
degree, the ill effcdls of the dettiocraticat
conftitution of Connecticut* I would
Wifh them to imagine, for I feel myfelf
unable adequately to defcribe, the con-
fufion, turbulence, and convulfion, arifing
in a province, where not .only every civil
officer, from the Governor to the confta-
ble, but alfo every minifler, is appointed as.
well as paid by the people, and fadion and
fuperftition are eftablifhed. The clergy*
lawyers, and merchants or traders, are
the three efficient parties which guide the
helm of government. Of thefe the moft
powerful is the clergy j and, when no
combinations are formed againft them,
they may be faid to rule the whole pro-
vince ; for they lead the women captive,
and the women the men | but when the
clergy differ with the lawyers and mer-
chants* the popular tide turns* In lika
manner, when the clergy and lawyers con-
tend with the merchants, it turns againft

thefe j

284 HISTORY OF

thefe ; and it is the fame, when the
clergy and merchants unite againft the
lawyers. This fluctuation of power gives
a ftrange appearance to the body politic
at large* In Hertford, perhaps, the clergy
and merchants are agreed and prevail ; in
Weathersfield, the clergy and lawyers;
in Middletown, the lawyers and mer-
chants ; and fo on, again and again,
thoughout the colony. Thus the Ge-
neral Aflembly becomes an aflembly of
Contending fa&ions, whofe different in-
terefts and purfuits it is generally found
neceffary mutually to confult, in order
to produce a fufficient coalition to pro-
ceed on the bufinefs of the flate. ■
Vojipfos, pfeudo-patres patrice, veluti in Jpe-

cuto y ajpicite! Sometimes, in quarrels

tween the merchants and lawyers of a
particular parifh, the minifter is allowed
to ftand neuter j but, for the moft part, he
h obliged to declare on one fide or the
Other : he then, remembering whence he

gets

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CONNECTICUT. 285

gets his bread, efpoufes that which appears
to be the ftrongeft, whether it be right or
wrong, and his declaration never fails to
ruin the adverfe party. En rabies vulgi f
—I muft beg leave to refer my readers to
their own refle&ions upon fuch a fyftem
of government as I have here fketched
out.

The hiftorians of New-England boaft
much -of the happinefs all parties there
enjoy in not being fubjea:, as in England,
to any facramental teft by way of qua-
lification for preferment in the ftatej
on which account, with peculiar pro-
priety, it might be called a free coun-
try. The truth is, there never has been
occafion for fuch a teft-adt. The af-
femblies never appointed any, becaufe the
wagiftrates are annually chofen by the
people, of whom the far greater part arc
church-members ; and this church-mem-
berfhip, in its confluences, deftroys
fill liberty in g swpmupicant, who i$

peceffitatsd

a86 HISTORY OF

i

t I * ■ * ■ •

nece floated to fwear to promote the in*
tereft of that church he is a member of,
and is duly informed by the miniftcr what
that intereft is. The minifter is ^the eye
of conscience to all freemen ip his parish j
and tells them, that they will perjure
themfelves, if they give their votes to an
epifcopalian, or to any perfon who is not
a member of the church of the Sober Dif>
/enters. Thofe freemen dare not go
counter to the minifter 's di&ate, any more
than a true Muflulrnan dare viofate the
mod facred law of Mahomet. What
need, then, is there of a civil teft,
when a religious teft operates much
more powerfully, and will ever keep all
churchmen, feparatifts, quakers, baptifts,
and other denominations, from govern-
mental employments in Connecticut,
and confine them all to the Old and
New Lights ; whilft the tcflyadt in Fng>
land prevents no diflenter from holding

any civil or military commiffion what-

fpevui",

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CONNECTICUT. zS 7

foever. Upon thi$ fubjedt Mr. Neal

has exerted himfclf in fo fignal a man-
ner, that he ought to be ftyled the
Champion of New- England. He repre-
fents, that there were two ftate fa&ions
in New-England : the one out of place
he c^lls fpies, and malcontents, chiefly
becaufe they had no (hare in the govern-
jnent. He adds, p. 615, " I can aflure the
< c world, that religion is no part of the
1 c quarrel j for there is no facramental
" teft for preferments in the ftate."—
Many people in New-England have not
been able to aifign a reafon for Mr. Neal's
chufing to hide one truth by telling ano-
ther, viz. that there was no ftatute in New*
England to oblige a man to receive the
facrament among the Sober Diffenters,
as a qualification for civil employment.
This aflertion is really true ; and when
Mr. Neal fpeaks a truth, he above all
men ought to have credit for it. But Mr.
Neal well knew it to be truth alfo, that

no

I

238 HISTORY OF

no man could be chofen a corporal in the
train-band, unlcfs he was a member of
the church of the Sober Diffenters, be-
caufe then every voter was fubjedfc to a reli-
gious teft of the fynod or confociation,
Mr. Neal, indeed, feems to think that a

•

civil teft is herefy itielf j but that a reli-
gious teft is liberty, is gofpel, and renders
u all parties of chriftians in New-England
u eafy, a happy people !" The reafon,
however, of his muffling truth with truth,
was, he wrote for the Old Lights, and
againft the New Lights, for hire j the New
Lights being the minority, and out of
place in the ftate. Thofe two feds dif-
fered about the coercive power of the
civil magiftrate. The Old Lights held that
the civil magiltrate was a creature framed
on purpofe tofupport ecclefiaftical cenfure*
with the fword of feverity ; but the New
Lights maintained, that the magiftrate
had no power or right to concern himfelf
whh church excommunication, and that

cxcom-

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CONNECTICUT- *fy

excommunication was all the punifhment
any-one could undergo in this world ac-
cording to the rules of the gofpel. Thefe
were and always have been two great
articles of faith in New-England ; never*
thelefs, Mr. Neal fays, he can allure the
world, that " religion is no part of the
quarrel !" I hope Mr. Neal did not mean
to quibble, as the New-Englanders gene-
rally do, by a jefuitifm, viz, that religion
is peaceable and admits not of quarrels j
and yet, if he did not* he meant not a full
representation of the matter : for he well
knew that the difference in refpedl to the
intent and power of magiftrates was a reli-
gious point, and formed the partition- wall
between the Old and New Light?. The
civilians or magiftrates were too wife to
countenance the New-Lights, who pro*
mifed little good to them* while the
Old-Lights gave them a power of punifh-
ing, even with death, thofe whom they
had anathematized, and who would no{

U About

* 9 o HISTORY OF

fubmit to their cenfures by penitence and
confeflion. The Old-Lights, in fhort,
fupported the pra&ice of the inquifitors of
Spain, and Archbifhop Laud j the often-
fible occafion of their anceftors flying
from. England to the wildernefs of Ame-
rica.

But Mr. Neal contented not himfclf
with one miftake : he added, " that the
€i people of New- England are a dutiful
€t and loyal people." They never merited
this character, and they always had too
much honefty and religion to claim it.
From the firft they have uniformly de-
clared, in church and ftate, that America
is a new world, fubjedt to the people re-
fiding in it ; and that none but enemies
to the country would appeal from their
courts to the King in Council. They
never have prayed for any earthly king

#

by name. They have always called them-
felves republicans and enemies to kingly
government, to temporal and fpiritual

lords.

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CONNECTICUT, a 5 i

fords. They hate the idea of a parliament,,
conlifting of King, Lords, and Commons :
they declare, that the three branches
fhould be but one, the King having only
a fingle vote with the other members.
Upon this point they have always quar-
relled with all governors. They never
have admitted one law of England to be in
force among them, till palled by their af-
femblies. They have fent agents to fight
againft the Kings of England. They
deny the jurifdiction of the Bifliop of
London, which extends over America
by virtue of a royal patent They hold
jkfus to be their only King, whom if they
love and obey, they will not fubmit, be-
caufe they have not fubmitted, to the laws
of the King of Great- Britain.

Mr. Neal, furthermore, profefles his
want of conception why the Society for
the Propagation of the Gofpel in Foreign
Parts (hould fend Miffionaries into New-
England, when Oliver Cromwell had, in

U 2 1649,

i 9 i HISTORY OF

1649, inftituted a Society to propagate
Chriftian Knowledge there. Mr. Neal
might have learnt the caufe of this phe-
nomenon from the charter granted to the
firft-mentioned Society by King Wil-
liam HI. who was a friend to civil and
chriftian liberty, and who endeavoured to
fupprefs the intolerable perfecutions in his
days prevailing in New-England. But,
beiides, Mr. Neal could not but know
that there were many churchmen in New-
England defirous of the ufe of the liturgy
and difcipline of the Englifli church ; and
for what reafon Ihould not they have mi-
nifters of their own perfuafion, as well as
the fober and confcientious diflenters ? I
hope my readers will not think me a par-
tial advocate for the church of England,
which, perhaps, has loft the opportunity
of civilizing, chriftianizing, and modera-
ting the burning zeal of the diflenters
in New-England who were honeft in
their religion, merely by the finful omif-

fion

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CONNECTICUT. 293

fion of not fending a bifhop to that coun-
try, who would have effedted greater
things among them than an army of
50,000 men. — I avow myfclf to be liberal-
minded towards all feds and parties ; and,
if I had power, I would convert all forts
of minifters into popes, cardinals, prelates,
dominis, potent prefbyters, and rich qua-
kers, that the world might be excufed
from hearing again of preaching, defa-
mation, infurredions, and fpiritual jurif-
didlions, which refult more from po-
verty, pride, avarice, and ambition, than
the love of peace and chriftianity. It
has been faid by the deifts and other po-
liticians, that minifters, by preaching,
have done more hurt than good in the
chriftian world. If the idea will hold in
any part, it will in New-England, where
each feft preaches, for Gofpel, policy and
defamation of its neighbour ; whence the
lower claffes think, that chriftianity con-
fifts in defending their own peculiar church

U 3 and

I

i

a 9+ HISTORY OF

and modes, and fubverting thofe of others,
at any rate ; while the higher ranks value
religion and the Gofpsl as laws of a foreign
country, and the clergy as merchants or
pawwawers, fubtle, cruel, and greedy of
riches and dominion over all people. For
this reafon, the favages have taken an
averfion to the protcftant religion, and fay
they had rather follow Hobbamockow,
and the Roman priefts, than New- Eng-
land chriftians, who perfecute one ano-
ther, and killed their anceftors with a
focky Gofpel. With fcorn they cry out,
" We value not your Gofpel, which mews
*' fo many roads to Kicktang : fome of
" them muft be crooked, and lead to
<« Hobbamockow. We had, therefore,
" better continue Indians, like our ancef-
♦« tors ; or be catholicks, who tell us of
«< only one way to Kicktang, or the io«
" vilible God.''

Laws. - A flranger in the colony, upon

hearing

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p

CONNECTICUT. 29$

hearing the inhabitants talk of religion,
liberty, and juftice, would be induced to
believe that the chriftian and civil virtues
were their diftinguifhing chara&eriftics ;
but he foon finds his miftake on fixing
his abode among them. Their laws grind
the poor, and their religion is to opprefs
the opprefled. The poll-tax is unjuft
and cruel. The poor man is compelled
to pay for his head 18 s, per ann. work
four days on the highways, ferve in the
militia four days, and pay three (hillings

■

for his hut without a window in it. The
beft houfe and richeft man in the colony
pays no more !

The law is pretended to exempt epifco-
palians, anabaptifts, quakers, and others,
from paying rates to the Sober Di/Jenters;
but, at the fame time, gives the Sober
Dijj'enters power to tax them for minifter,
Ichool, and town-rates, by a general vote;
and no law or court can put cjunder ivbat
the town has joi?ied together.- -The law

U ^. alio

t

a 9 6 HISTORY OP

fllfo exempts from paying to Sober t)if>
/enters all churchmen, who live Jo near as
they can and do attend the church. But,
hence* if a man is fick, and does cot attend
more than 26 Sabbaths in a year, he be-
comes legally a Sober Dijfenter y and, if
the meeting lies hetween him and the
church, he does not live fo near the church
tis he can attend, becaufe is it more than a
Sabbath - day's journey, and unnecejar)
travel.

The law prefcribes whipping. Hocks,
and fines, for fuch as do not attend
public worfhip on the Sabbath. The
grand jury complains, and the juftice in-
flidb the punifhment. This has been
the praftice many years. About J75°*
Mr. Pitt, a churchman, was whipped,
for not attending meeting, Mr. Pitt was
an old man. The epifcopal clergy wrote
to England, complaining of this cruel
law. The Governor and Council imme-
diately broke the iuftice who punilhed

Mr.

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CONNECTICUT. i$<f

Mr, Pitt, and wrote to the BUhap of
London that they, had done fo, as a mark
of their difapprobatioa of the juftice's con-
duffi:, and knew not what more they
could do. This apology fatisfied the Bi-
(hop; anti the next year the fame Governor
and Council reftored the juftice to his of-
fice : however, quake rs and anabaptifts
only were whipped afterward*.

Formerly, when a Sober Dijfenter had
a ftiit in law againft a churchman, every
juryman of the latter perfuafion was by
the court removed from the jury, and re-
placed by Sober Dijfenters. The reafon
affigned for this extraordinary condudt
was, 4< that juftice and impartiality might
take place." The epifcopalians, quakers,
and other fedts, not of the Sober Dif-
fenters> were not admitted to ferve as
jurymen in Connecticut till about 1750.
Such of them, whbfe annual worth is
rated at not lefs than forty pounds in the
general lift, haye enjoyed the liberty of

voting

298 HISTORY OF

voting for civil officers a much longer
term ; but from parifh-concerns they are
all (till totally excluded.

Other laws I have occafionally animad-
verted upon in the courfe of this work >
and a fpecimen of the Blue Laws is in-
ferted p. 63. — the various courts 8o, 81.

Nothing can refledt greater difgrace
upon the colony than the number of fuits
in all the county courts, amounting in
the whole to between 20 and 30,000
annually the greateft part of which
are vexatioufly commenced from expecta-
tions grounded upon the notorious in-
ftability of the judges opinions and deci-
fions.

This fpirit of litigation, which diftra&s
the province in general, is, however, a
bleffing to the judges and lawyers. The
court has one (hilling for every a&ion
called, and twenty (hillings for thofe that
Come to trial ; and the fee to each lawyer
is twenty (hillings, whether the aftion

be

1

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CONNECTICUT, i 99

be tried or not : befides various other ex-
pences. There are near as many fuits of
confcience before the juftices of peace,
and minifters, and deacons j fo that the
&m annually expended in Jaw in the
whole colony is amazing. It was not
without reafon, therefore, that the judges,
the lawyers, the minifters, and deacons,
the fheriffs, and conftables, oppofed the
flamp-a6t with all their might. They told
the people, that, if this aft took place, their
Jiberties would be deftroyed, and they
would be tried by King's judges without
a jury.

The Angular nature of fome of the fuits
entitle .them to particular notice. When
the ice and floods prevail in the great river
Connecticut, they frequently cut off large
pieces of ground on one fide, and carry
them over to the oppolite. By this means,
the river is every year changing its bed,
to the advantage of fome perfons, and
fhe diladvantage of others. This has

proved

goo HISTORY OF

proved the fource of perplexing Iaw-fuits,
and will moft likely continue to produce
the fame efFedts fo long as the demiannual
affemblies remain in the colony 5 for the
judgment of the Aflembly in May is
refcinded by that in Odtober, and fo vice
verfa. Thus a law-fuit in Conne&icut
is endlefs, to the ruin of both plaintiff
and defendant. The county and the fu*
perior courts, alfo, in different years, give
different judgments; and the reafon k
the popular conftitution of the colony,
whereby different parties prevail at diffe-
rent times, each of whom carefully un-
does what the others have done. Thus
the glorious uncertainty of law renders
the poffeflion of property in Ccnnedti-
cut extremely precarious. The queAion,
however, touching the lands removed
from place to place by the floods and ice,
requires the fkill of both jurifts and ca-
luifls. The moft fimple cafe of the kind
that has been communicated to me, is

the

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CONNECTICUT. joj

the following : A piece of land belong-
ing to A. in Springfield, with a houfe,
&c. (landing upon it, was removed by
the flood to another town, and fettled on

-

land belonging to W. A. claimed his
houfe and land, and took pofleflion of
them 5 whereupon W. fued A. for a
trefpafs, and the court ejefted A, But
A. afterwards obtained a reverfion of the
judgment ; when W. again fued A. and
got a decree that A. (hould remove his
own land off from the land of W. or pay
W. for bis land. Further litigation en-
fued, and both parties pleaded that the
adt of God injured no man according to
the Englifh law. The judges faid, the
adl of God in this cafe equally fell upon
A. and W. The difpute refts in Jiatu quo,
the jurifprudence of Connedticut not ha-
ving yet taught mankind what is juft and
legal in this important controverfy.

Suppofing the flood had carried A/s
(hip or raft on W/s land, the fliip or raft

^ — would

3 a2 History of

would ftill belong to A. and W. cOuld
recover no damage ; but then A. muft
take away his (hip or faft in a reafonable
time. Yet in the cafe where an ifland
or point of land 19 removed by the waters,
or an earthquake, upon a neighbouring
(hore, ^ Ought not the iflanders to keep
poffeflion of the fuperficies This may
be a new cafe in Europe.

Manners and Customs. — Gravity
and a ferious deportment, together with
fliynefs and baflifulnefs, generally attend
the firft communications with the inhabi-
tants of Connecticut; but, after a fhorC
acquaintance, they become very familiar
and inquifitive about news, — Who are
you, whence come you, where going*
what is your bufinefs, and what your
religion? They do not confider thefe
and fimilar queftions as impertinent, and
confequently expedt a civil anfwer. When
the ftranger has fatisfied their curiofity,

they

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CONNECTICUT. 303

they will treat him with all the hofpita-
lity in their power, and great caution
mull be obferved to get quit of them and
their houfes without giving them offence.
If the ftranger has crofs and difficult roads
to travel, they will go with him till all
danger is part, without fee or reward.
The ftranger has nothing to do but civilly
to fay, <c Sir, I thank you, and will call
<c upon you when I return." He muft
not fay, 44 God blefs you, I (hall be glad
44 to fee you at my houfe," unlefs he is
a minifter; becaufe they hold, that the
words " God blefs you" (hould not be
fpoken by common people ; and c< I fhali
44 be glad to fee you at my houfe" they
look upon as an infincere compliment
paid them for what they do out of duty to
the ftranger. Their hofpitality is highly
exemplary ; they are fincere in it, and
reap great pleafure by refledting that
perhaps they have entertained angels.
The Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, in one

of

jo4 HISTORY OF

/

of bi6 fermons, gave tfoem the following
chara&er : 4C I have found," faid he,
" the people of Connecticut the wifeft of
« any upon the continent— they are the
41 beft friends and the word enemies—
#c they are hair-brained bigots on alt fides
' §( —and they may be compared to the
" horfe and mule without bit and bridle.
*' In other colonies I have paid for my
€t food and lodging ; but could never
u fpend one penny in fruitful Conne&l*
€i cut, whofe banks flow with milk and
44 honey, and whole fons and daughters
u never fail to feed and refrefh the weary
u traveller without money and without
«« pricey

On Saturday evenings the people look
four and fad : on the Sabbath, they ap-
pear to have loft their deareft friends,
are almoft fpeechlefs, and walk foftlyj
they even obferve it with more exa&nefs
than ever did the Jews. A quaker preacher
told them, with much truth, that they

woe

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CONNECTICUT, $oj

IPsror/hipped the Sabbath, and not the God
pf the Sabbath. Thofe hofpitable people
Without charity condemned the quakef
3$ a blafphemer of the holy Sabbath, fined^
tarred and feathered him, put a rope
about his neck, and plunged him into the
fez ; but he efcaped with life, though
he was above 70 years of age. In 1750,
&n epifcopal clergyman, born and educated
in England, who had been in holy orders
^bove 20 years, once broke their fabbatjeal
law, by combing a difcompofed lock of
hair on the top of his wig ; $t another
time, by making a humming noife, whicfy
they called a whittling $ at a third time, by
walking too faft from church $ at a fourth.
by running into church when it- rained;
at a fifth, by walking in his garden, and
picking a bunch of grapes : for whicfy
feveral crimes he was complained pf by
the grand Jury, had warrants granted
jagainft him, was feized, brought to trial,
#ad paid a confiderable fum pf money.

X At

3 o6 HISTORY OF

At laft, overwhelmed with perfecution
and vexation, he cried out, " No Briton,
u nay no Jew, fhould affume any public
t( charafter in Connedticut, till he has
" ferved an apprenticefhip of ten years
" in it ; for I have been here feven years,
€ and ftri&ly obferved the Jewifti law
<c concerning the Sabbath, yet find my-
€i felf remits in refpedt to the perfeft law
« of liberty /"

The people are extremely fond of
ft rangers paffing through the colony, but
very averfe to foreigners fettling among
them; which few have done without
ruin to their characters and fortunes by
detradion and law-fuits, unlefs recom-
mended as men of grace by fome known
and revered republican proteftant in Eu-
rope. The following ftory may be amu-
ling:— An Englifli gentleman, during
a fhort refidence in a certain town, had
the good luck to receive fome civili-
ties from the Deacon, Minifler, and Jufr

tic*

■

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CONNECTICUT. 307

lice. The Deacon had a daughter,
without beauty, but fenfible and rich.
The Briton (for that was the name he
went by), having received a prefent from
the Weft Indies, of fome pine- apples and
fweetmeats, fent his fervant with part of
it to the Deacon's daughter, to whom,
at the fame time, he addreffed a compli-
mentary note, begging Mifs would accept
the pine-apples and fweetmeats, and
wifliing he might be able to make her a
better prefent. Mifs, on reading the note,
was greatly alarmed, and exclaimed, " Ma-
" ma ! Mama ! Mr. Briton has fent me g,
" love-letter." The mother read the note,
and (hewed it to the Deacon and, after
due confideration, both agreed in pro-?
nouncing it a love-letter. The lawyer,
juftice, and parfon, were then fent for,
who in council weighed every word in
the note, together with the golden temp-
tation which the lady poffeffed, and were
pf opinion that the writer was in love ?

3 o8 HISTORY Or

and that the note was a love-letter, but
worded fo carefully that the law could
not punifh Briton for attempting to court
Mifs without obtaining htr parents con*
fent. The parfon wrung his hands,
rolled up his eyes, (hrugged up his i
fhoulders, groaned out his hypocritical
grief, and faid, " Deacon, I hope you do
4t not blame me for having been the inno-
u cent caufe of your knowing this impru*
u dent and haughty Briton, There is fome-
u thing very odd in all the Britons $ but
4 * I thought this man had fbme prudence
€i and modefty : however, Deacon," put-
ting his hand on his *breaft, and -bowing
ing with a pale, deceitful face, " I (hall
41 in future (hun all the Britons, for they
u are all flxange creatures." The law-
yer and juftice made their apologies, and
were forry that Briton did not cohfider
the quality of the Deacon's daughter be*
fore he wrote his letter. Mifs, all ap-
prehenfion and tears, at finding no puuijh-

xnejii

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CONNECTICUT. 309

tnent could reach Briton in the courfe of
law, cried out to htr couniellors, " Who
« is Briton ? Am I not the Deacon's
daughter ? What have I done that he
" (hould take fuch liberties with me?
" Is he not the natural fon of fomc
« prieft or foundling ? Ought he not to
«< be expofed for his aflurance to the
44 Deacon's daughter ?" -Her words took
effctt. The council voted that they would
(hew their contempt of Briton by neglcdt-
ing him for the time to come. On his re-
turn home, the parfon, after many andgreat
figns of furprize, informed his wife of the
awful event which had happened by the
imprudence of Briton* She foon com-
municated the fecret to her fitter goffips,
prudently cautioning tbem not to report it
as from her. But, not content with that,
the parfon himfelf went among all his
acquaintance, (halting his head, and fay-
ing, " O, Sirs 1 have you heard of the

'* ftrange conduit of friend Briton ?--how

X3 "hs

3io HISTORY OF

" he wrote a love- letter, and fent it with
€t fome pine-apples to the Deacon's daugh-
" ter ? My wife ahd I had a great friend*
"fhip for Briton, but cannot fee him
fl any more." Thus the afflicted parfon
told this important tale to every one ex*
cept Briton, who, from his ignorance of
the ftory, conducted himfelf in his ufual
manner towards his fuppofed friends;
though he obferved they had a (how of
hafte arid bufinefs whenever he met with
any of thenl. Happily for Briton, he
depended not on the Deacon, Minifter,
or Colony, for his fupport* At laft, a
Scotchman heard of the evil tale, and
generoufly told Briton of it, adding that
the parfon was fuppofed to be in a deep
decline merely from grief and the fa-
tigue he had endured in fpreading it,
Briton thanked the Scotchman, and called
on the friendly parfon to know the parti-
culars of his offencei The parfon, with
f?ghs > bows, and folemn fmir kings, an-

fwered

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CONNECTICUT. 5 it

fwered, €C Sir, the fa£t is, you wrote a
" love-letter to the Deacon's daughter
<c without afk ing her parents confent,
" which has given great offence to that
" lady, and to all her acquaintance, of
" whom I and my wife have the honour
u to be reckoned a part/' Briton kept
his temper. « So then," faid he, " I
u have offended you by my infolent note
" to the Deacon's daughter ! I hope my
u fin is venial. Pray, Sir, have you feen
" my note?' 1 "Yes," replied the parfon,
ct to my grief and forrow : I could not
u have thought you fo imprudent, had I
" not feen and found the note to be your
<c own writing." " How long have you
<c known of this offence ?" <c Somemonths."
<c Why, Sir, did you not feafonably ad-
" monifh me for this crime ?" " I was
" fo hurt and grieved, and my friend fhip
" fo great, I could not bear to tell you."
Mr. Briton then told the parfon, that his
friendfhip was fo fine and fubtle, it was

X 4 invifibk

3ii HISTORY Of

Invifible to an Englifli eye ; and that
Gofpel minifters in England did hot prove
their friendlhip by telling calumnious
ftories to every body but the perfon con-
cerned. " But, I fuppofe," added he,
f< this is genuine New-England friend*
u (hip, and merits thanks more than a
" fupple-jack I M The parfon* with a
leering look, fneaked away towards his
ivife ; and Briton left the colony without
anjr civil or ecclefiaftical punifliment, tell-
ing the Scotchman that the Deacon's
daughter had money, and the parfon faith
without eyes, or he fhould never have
been accufed of making love id one
who was naturally fo great an enemy to

Cupid. Of fuch or worfe fort being

the reception foreign fettlers may expedt
From the inhabitants of Connecticut, it is
tid wonder that few or none chufe id
Venture afaiohg them*

The ciiftom of fettling and difmilfihg
i foter 'dijjenting hiinifter is very fingii-

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lar. All the parifhioners meet, and vote
to apply to the affociation for a candidate}
and one is accordingly fent. If he pleafes,
the people vote to give him a call i if he
accepts the call, the a&ual communicants^
and they alone, make the covenant be*
tween him and them as Chrift's church,
and thus they are married to him. Aftef
the candidate is ordained, others * by ac*
knowledging and fwearing to fupport thd
covenant, become married to him alfo*
[N. B. Baptifm isnotfufficient to take them
out of their natural ftate.] The call is an
invitation from the parifhioners to the
candidate to take upon him the minifterial
office of their church, on condition that he
be allowed 300/. or 400/. fettlement,
and, perhaps, 100/. falary, befides wood*
&c. &c. during his refidence among them
in that capacity. The candidate, afteif
looking round him, and finding no betted
terms offered from any other parifh*
anfwers in this manner; « Brethren

<f and

3 i4 HISTORY OF

" and friends, I have confidered of youf
u call ; and, after many fallings and
" prayers, I find it to be the call of God,
« and clofe with your offer." The
church then appoints a day for his ordi-
nation, and the minifters who (hall affift
in the ceremony, which is as follows:

1. The meeting is opened with an hymn :

2, fome-one makes a prayer : 3, another
hymn fucceeds : 4. a fermon : 5. ano-
ther prayer ; 6. the covenant is read : 7.
the prayer of confecration, with impofi-
tion of hands by the minifters: 8. the
right hand of fellowfliip, which conveys
that half of minifterial power which I have
already fpoken of as communicated by
the churches (p.143) : 9. the charge; that
is, to behave well in the office whereto
God has called him : 10. a prayer: if.
another hymn : 12. the young minifter
difmiffes with his benediaion. Numerous
as the ceremonies are in a minifter's or-
dination, there are but few judged ne-

ceffary

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CONNECTICUT. 315

Geffary in difmiffing him — a majority
of the church is enough to turn the mi-
nifter from bed and board, or, in their
language, u to divorce him;" — which
happens more frequently than is decent.
The minifter has no remedy but in ap-
pealing to the aflbciation, which ftep enti-
tles him to his falary till difmiffed by
that powerful body. Incontinency, in-
temperance, lying, and idlenefs, are the
common accufations brought againft the
minifter, but feldom founded in truth,
and yet always proved by knights of the
poft. However, the minifter carries off
his fettlement, in cafe he is difmiffed for
immoralities, but not if he turns church-
man 5 then his old parifhioners are mean
enough to fue for the fettlement. A re-
cent inftance of this kind happened at
New- London, where the minifter, Doc-
tor Macher Byles, defired a difmiffion,
which was given him ; but, finding the

Do&or's defign was to become a church-
man,

$i6 HISTORY OF

riiin y the people demanded the fettlement
given him twelve years before. The
Do&or, with a fpirit worthy of himfelf
and his venerable anceftors returned the
money with, " You are welcome to it,
«' lince it proves to the world that you
<c could not accufe me of any thing
" more agreeable to ungenerous minds."

The manner of vifiting the lick in this
province is more terrible than charitable.
The minifter demands of the fick if he
be converted, when, and where i If the
anfwers are conformable to the fyftem of
the minifter, it is very well ; if not, the
lick is given over as a non-eledl, and no
objedt of prayer. Another minifter is
then fent for, who aflcs if the fick be
willing to die — if he hates God — if he
be willing to be damned, if it pleafe God
to damn him ? Should he anfwer No, this
minifter quits him as did the former.
Finally* the fick man dies, and fo falls out
of their hands into better.

Amidft

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CONNECTICUT, S i?

Amidft all the darknefs of fuperftitioij
that furrounds the (late, the humanity it
(hews to poor ftrangers feized with fick-
nefb in the colony, or to luch perfons as
are (hipwrecked upon its coafts, fhines
with diftinguilhcd luftre. Thcfp unfor-
tunate fufferers are immediately provided
with ntceffarics of every kind by order of
the feledtmen, whofe espences are reim-
burfed out of the colony treafury.

Thus is laudably employed a part of
the money allowed for contingencies (fee
p. 278); but another part is confumed
in a very different manner, It frequently
happens, that whenever the Epifcopalians
becorpe fp numerous in a pariih, as to
gain the afcendency over the Sober Dif-
Jjenters, and the latter cannot, by their own
ftrength, either deftroy the epifcopal,
.or fupport their own church, the Go-
vernor and Council, with the advice of
the Confociation, kindly relieve them

with an annual grant, out of the public

treafury,

3 i8 HISTORY OF

treafury, fometimes to the amount of the
whole fum paid into it by every denomi-
nation in the parifh. An ad: of charity of
this kind lately took place at Chelfea, in
Norwich, where the Sober Dijfenters were
few and poor, and without a meeting-houfe
or minifter j fo that they were obliged to
walk a mile to a meeting, or go to
church. The young people chofe the
latter, which alarmed the Sober Dijfenters
to fuch a degree, that they applied for and
obtained from the generous Governor and
his virtuous Council 300/. per annum out
of the public treafury, befides the duties
on the veflels of churchmen at that port.
This largition enabled them to build a
meeting and fettle a minifter. When the
churchmen complained of this abufe of
public money, the Governor anfwered,
« c The AfTembly has the fame right to
« fupport chriftianity, as the Society for
« the Propagation of the Goipel in foreign
* Parts, or the Parliament of Great Britain/'

The

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CONNECTICUT. 319

The murmurs of the people, on the
collection of the revenue, befpeak embez-
zlements of another kind. It fhould
feem that they believed the General Af-
fembly to be in the fame predicament
the Devil thought Job was, when he
faid, " Doth Job ferve God for nought V y

Eftates in Connedticut pafs from ge-
neration to generation by gavelkind } fo
that there are few perfons, except of the
labouring clafs, who have not freeholds
of their own to cultivate. A general
mediocrity of ftation being thus confti-
tutionally promoted, it is no wonder that
the rich man is defpifed and the poor
man's bleffing is his poverty. In no part
of the world are les petit s and les grands
fo much upon a par as here, where none
of the people are deftitute of the conve-
niences of life, and the fpirit of indepen-
dence. From their infancy, their edu-
cation as citizens points out no diftinc-
fcioQ between licentioufnefs and liberty j

£nd

$ ip HISTORY OF

and their religion is fo muffled with fu*
perdition, felf-Iove, and provincial en*
jnity, as not yet to have taught them that
humility and refpeft for others, which
from others they demand. Notwith-
standing thefe effedts of the levelling
plan, there are many exceptions to be
found in the province of gentlemen of
large eftates and generous principles.

The people commonly travel on horfer
back j and the ladies are capable of teach?
ing their neighbours the art of horfeman*
Ihip. There are few coaches in the co-
lony; but many chaifes and whifkeys.
In the winter, the fleigh is ufed ; 3. ve-
hicle drawn by two horfes, and carrying
fix perfons in its box, which hangs oji
four pofts Handing on two fteel Aiders,
or large fcates.

Dancing, fifliing, hunting, fcating, an4
riding in fleighs on the ice, are all th/s
amufements allowed in the colony.

Smuggling is riyetted in the conftitu?

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CONNECTICUT. 321

»

titins and prattice of the inhabitants of
Connecticut, as much as fuperftition and
religion; and their province is a flore-
houfe for the fmugglers of the neighbour-
ing colonies. They confcientioufly ftudy
to cheat the King of thofe duties, which,
they fay, God and nature never intended
fhould be paid. From the governor
down to the tithing-man, who are fworfi
to fupport the laws, they will aid fmug-
lers, refift collectors, and mob informers.
This being a popular government, all
the officers are appointed by the free-
holders. There are very fevere laws
againft bribery. The candidates are not
fuffered to give a dinner, or a glafs of
cyder, on the day of election, to a voter.
Indeed, bribery is tile next greateft crime
to the breach of the Sabbath ; yet open
bribery, eftabliflied by cuftom immenw-
rial in Rhode- Ifland, is more praife<-
worthy than the pra&ice of Connecticut,
1 will give the reader fome idea of th&

Y mode

jzi MIST ORY OF

lnode in which an eledtion is managed ill
Conne&icut. All the voters in a town-
{hip convene in the town meeting-houfe.
One of the minifters, after prayers^
preaches from fome fuch text as, " Jabez
u was more honourable than all his brethren''
The people keep their feats, while the
conftables take their votes in a box ; and*
if a voter has not his vote written, the
conftable gives him one. So Jabez is
ele&ed ; and the meeting is concluded
with a prayer of thanks to the Lord God
of Ifrael for " turning the hearts of his
u people againft the enemies of Ziofy
" and for uniting them in Jabez, the
*' man after his own he_art." — The man-
ner in which the preacher treats his text*
wiii more particularly appear from the
animadverfion of a certain quaker on one
t>f thefe occaiions. c< Friend," faid he
to the pedagogue, " I do thee no wrong
" in telling thee that thou has prayed and
preached againft bribery, but forgot

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CONNECTICUT, $23

u to keep thy tongue from fpeaking evil
" againft thy neighbour. Doft thou think
" the Lord will regard thy preaching fo
cC much as the voters whom thou doft call
" freemen ? If thou believeft it, thou
" haft bribed not only the people, but
u the Lord alfo, to rejedt Ebenezer and
ct Benjamin/' The preacher called upon
the conftable to take away this babbler,
and open the meeting ; which was done,
and Ebenezer and Benjamin were re-
jected by the voters.

The men, in general, throughout the
province, are tall, ftout, and robuft. The
greateft care is taken of the limbs and
bodies of infants, which are kept ftrait
by means of a board 5 a practice learnt of
the Indian women, who abhor all crook-
ed people : fo that deformity is here a
rarity. Another cuftom derived from the
Indians is, to welcome a new-born infant
into the world with urine and honey, the
dflfcfis of w hich are wonderful j and hence

Y 2 it

■

3 i4 HISTORY OF

Jt is that at groanings there are always i
little boy and a rattle-fnake's (kin, th£
latter of which prevents numbnefs and
the cramp. The women are fair, hand-
fom£, genteel. They have, indetd, adopted
Various cuftoms of the Indian women;
but cannot learn, like them, how to fup-
port the pains of child-bearing without a
groan. NatUralifts and furgeons have not
been able to affign a reafon why a negrd
woman fhould h/ive a hundred pains, a
white woman ten, and an Indian none;

•

Some have faid that the fatigues and hard-
fhipS which the negroes endure, are the
caufe ; but the Indians undergo many
more : — others have faid it is owing to
the change of climate ; but this is fupple-
tory : — while the enthufiaftic divines at-
tribute it to the fin of Eve, and to thg
burfe laid on the Canaanites. The deifts
&{k thofe divines, If Eve was not the
bmmon mother of the White, blacky
»hd copper-fcoloured women $ and ho#

n

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/

CONNECTICUT, 32jf

it appears that npgroes are the defendants
of the people of Canaan ? Their apfwer
is, All nature is myftery;

The wotpen of Conne&icut are ftri#Iy
yirtuQus, and to be compared to the
prude rather than the European polite
Jady, They are not permitted to read
plays i cannot conyerfe about vyhift,
quadrille, or operas ; but will freely talk
upon the fubje<3s of hiftory, geography,
and the mathematics. Th^y jar^ great
cafuifts and polemical divines ; and \ have
known not a few of them fo well fkilkcj
in Greek and Latin, as often jo pjit tQ
the blu(h learned gentlepen.

Notwithftanding the modefty of the
females is fuch, that it would be accounted
the greateft rudenefs for a gentleman to
fpeajc before a lady of a garter, knee,
or leg, yet it is thought but a piece of
civility to a(k her to bundle j acuftom
£s old as the firft fettlement in 1634. It
$ certainly innocent, virtuous, ai}d pru-

Y 3 dent?

• j ...... ;

326 HIS TO RY OF

dent; or the puritans would not have
permitted it to prevail among their off*
ipring, for whom in general they would
fuffer crucifixion. Children brought up
with the chafteft ideas, with fo much

•

religion, as to believe that the omnifcient
God fees them in the dark, and that angels
guard them when abfent from their pa-
rents, will not, nay, cannot adt a wicked
thing. People who are influenced more
by luft, than by a ferious faith in God,
who is too pure to behold iniquity with
approbation, ought never to bundle. If
any man, thus a ftranger to the love of
virtue, of God, and the chriftian religion,
fhould bundle with a young lady in New-
England, and behave himfelf unfeemly
towards her, he muft firft melt her into
paflion, and expel heaven, death, and hell,
from her mind, or he will undergo the
chaftifement of negroes turned mad—
if he efcape with life, it will be owing
to the parents flying from their bed to

protect

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CONNECTICUT, 327

protedt him. The Indians, who had
this method of courtfhip, when the Eng?
Ji(h firft arrived among them in 1634, arc
the moft chafte fet of people in the world.
Concubinage and fornication are vices
none of them are addidted to, except fuch
as forfake the laws of Hobbamockow and
turn chriftians. The favages have taken
many female prifoners, carried them bacl£
300 miles into their country, and kept
them feveral years, and yet not a finglc
inftance of their violating the laws cf pha-
ftity has ever been known. This cannot
be faid of the French, or of the Englifh,
whenever Indian or other women have
fallen into their hands. I am no advo-
cate for temptation j yet muft fay, that
bundling has prevailed 160 years in Newr
England, and, I verily believe, with tei*
limes more chaftity than the fitting on a
fopha. I had daughters, and fpeak from
near forty years experience. Bundling
fakes place only in cold feafons of the

Y 4 year™

3*S HISTORY OF

year — the fopha in Cummer is more dange.
rpus than the hed in winter. About the
year 1756, Bofton, Salem, Newport, and
New-York,refolving tp be more polite than
their anceftors, forbade their daughters
bundling on the bed with any young men
whatever, and introduced a fopha to ren-
der courtfliip more palatable ^nd Turkifo.
Whatever it was owing to, whether to
the fopha, or any uncommon excefs of
the feu d'efpnt, there went abroad a
report, that this raffinage produced more
natural confequences than all the bundling
among the boors with their rurales per
dantes^ through pvery village in New?
England befides.

In 1766, a clergyman from one of the
polite towns, went into the country, and
preached againft the unchriftian cuftom
of young men and maidens lying together
on a bed. He was no fooner out of the
church, than attacked by a fhoal of good
wQ.ld wo^ien, with, " $ir, do you think

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r

CONNECTICUT,

> c we and our daughters arc naughty,
" becaufe we allow of bundling?" He
anfwered, " You lead yourfelves into
" temptation by it." They all replied at
once, u Sir, have you been told thus, or

*

" has experience taught it you ?" The
Levite began to lift up his eyes, and to

-

confider of his fituation, and, bowing,
faid, " I have been told fo." The ladies,
una voce, bawled out, <c Your informers,
" Sir, we conclude, are thofe city ladies
u who prefer a fopha to a bed ; we ad-
" vife you to alter your fe.rmon by
" fubftituting the word Sopha for Bun-
<c dling) and, on your return home,
" preach , it to them ; for experience
€€ has told us that city folks fend more
"children into' the country without
<c father or mothers to own them, than
" are born among us : therefore, you fee,
" a fopha is more dangerous than a bed/'
The poor prieft, feemingly convinced of
&i» blunder, exclaimed, " Nec vitia nojlra.

■

53* HISTORY OF

" nec remedia pati poffumus" hoping
hereby to get rid of his guefts ; but an
old matron pulled off her fpedtacles, and,
looking the prieft in his face like a Ro-
man heroine, faid, " Noli put are me hac
€t auribus tuis dare." Others cried out
to the prieft to explain his Latin. " The
Englifh," faid he, u is this : Won me that
I Jojcurn in Mefeck, and dwell in the tents
of Kedar ! One pertly retorted, Gladii de-
cujjati funt gemina prejbyteri clavis. The
prieft confefled his error, begged pardon,
and promifed never more to preach againft
Bundling, or to think amifs of the cufr
torn : the ladies generoufly forgave him,
and went away.

It may feem very ftrange to find this
cuftom of Bundling in bed attended with
fo much innocence in New - England,
while in Europe it is thought not fafe or
fcarcely decent to permit a young man and
maid to be together in private any-where.
But in this quarter of the old world the

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CONNECTICUT. 33!

vicioufnefs of the one, and the fimplicity
of the other, are the refult merely of edu^
cation and habit. It feems to be a part
of heroifm, among the poliflied nations
of it, to facrifice the virtuous fair- one,
whenever an opportunity offers, and thence
it is concluded that the fame principles ac-
tuate thofe of the new world. It is egre-
gioufly abfurd to judge of all coun-
tries by one. In Spain, Portugal, and
Italy, jealoufly reigns ; in France, Eng-
land, and Holland, fufpicion j in the Weft
and Eaft Indies, luft ; in New-England,
fuperftition. Thefe four blind deities
govern Jews, Turks, Chriftians, Infidels,
and Heathen. Superftition is the mod
amiable. She fees no vice with approba-
liori but pcrfecution, and felf-prefervation
is the caufe of her feeing that. My infu-
lar readers will, I hope, believe me, when
I tell them, that I have feen, in the Weft-
Indies, naked boys and girls (fome 15 or
j 6 years of age) waiting at table and at

tea,

f

332, HISTORY OP

tea, even when twenty or thirty virtuoui
Englifh ladies were in' the room ; who
were under no more embankment
at fuch an awful fight in the eyes of
Englifh people that have nof travelled
abroad, than they would have been at
the fight of fo many fervants in livery.
Shall we cenfure the ladies of the Weft-
Indies as vicious above all their fex, on
account of this local cijftom ? By no
means ; for long experience has taught
the world that the Weft- Indian white
ladies are virtuous prudes. Where fuperfti?
tion reigns, fanaticifm' will be minifter of
ftate ; and the people, under the taxation
of zeal, will (hun what is commonly
called vice with ten times more care than
the polite and civilized chriftiafls, who
know what js right and what is wrong
from reafon and revelation. Happy woulc}
it be for the world, if reafon and revela?
tion were fuffered to controul the min4
jwjtd paffions of the great and wife rpen of

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C? O N N E fc f I C U f . 33 j

tne earth, as fupcrftition does thofe of th6
fimple and lefs polifhed ! When Ame-
rica fhall eredt focieties for the promotion
of chaftity in Europe, in return for the
feftablifhment of European arts in the Ame-
rican capitals j then Europe will difcover
that there is more chriftian philfofophy in
American Bundling than can be found iri
the cuftoms of nations more polite.

I fhould not have faid fo much about
Bundling, had not a learned Divine * of
the Englifh church publiflied his Travels
through fome parts of America, wherein
this remarkable cuftom is reprefented in
ian unfavourable light, and as prevailing
among the lower clafs of people. Thd
truth is, the cuftom prevails among all
clafles, to the great honour of the coun-
try, its religion, and ladies. The vir-
tuous may be tempted; but the tempter
Is defpifed. Why it (hould be thought

* Dr. Burnaby.

incredible

334 HISTORY OP

incredible for a young man and 4
young woman innocently and virtu*
oufly to lie down together in bed with
a great part of their cloaths on, I
cannot conceive. Human paffions may
be alike in every region j but religion,
divcrfified as it is, operates differently in
different countries. Upon the whole,
had I daughters now, I would venture to
let them bundle on the bed, or even on
the fopha, after a proper education, fooner
than adopt the Spanifh mode of forcing
young people to prattle only before the
lady's mother the chitchat of artlefs lovers*
Could the four quarters of the world pro-
duce a more chafte, exemplary, and beau-
tiful company of wives and daughters
than are in Connecticut, I (hould not
have remaining one favourable fentiment
for the province. But the foil, the rivers,
the ponds* the ten thoufand landflcips,
together with the virtuous and lovely wo-
men which noW adorn the ancient king-
doms

Digitized by Googl

CONNECTICUT. 33$

doms of Connedticote, Saflacus,and Quin-
hipiog, would tempt me into the higheft
wonder and admiration of them, could
they once be freed of the fkunk, the
moping-owl, rattle-fnake, and fanatic
chriftian.

My readers will naturally be defirous
of information in what manner the peo-
ple of Connecticut condufted themfelves
in regard to the ftamp-aft, which has
proved the fubjedt of fo much fpeculation
and controverfy both in America and
Europe : I will, therefore, give a par-
ticular account of their proceedings con-
cerning it; which will perhaps appear to
have been of far greater confequence than
is generally fuppofed in England.

The American colonifts were no fooher
extricated from all danger of Gallic depre-
dation by the peace of 1763, than they
began to manifeft fymptoms of ingratitude
and rebellion againft their deliverers.
Connefticut, on feveral accounts, parti-

ticularly

336 HISTORY OF

iicularly that of its free conftitution \ft
church and ftate, which prevented ever^
interruption from a King's Governor, was
fixed upon as the fitteft fite for raifing
the firft fruits of jealoufy and diffaffe&iori.
Nor did the hatred, which kept the pro-
vince at eternal ftrife within itfelf on all
bther occalions, prevent its political coin-
cidence upon this. In 1764, delegates
from every difTenting aflbciation in Ame-
rica Cohveried at Newhaven, and fettled
their plan of operations. They voted,
that the American vine was endangered by
the encroachments of the Englifh parlia-
taent, aftd the Society for the Propagatioh
of the Gofpel in Foreign Parts i that
epifcopacy was eftablifhed in Nova- Scotia,
and miflionaries maintained by the Englifli
government, while New^-England and
other American ftates were taxed (o fup-
port that fame government ; that a league
and covenant ought to be made arid figned
by ail good prcteftants againft the machi-
nations

Digitized by

Connecticut. 33/

nations of their enemies, and in defence
of their civil and religious liberties $ that
it was the duty of all good proteftants
to ftand upon their guard, and colledl
and fend every kind of interefting intel-
ligence to the Moderator at Hertford,
whofe bufinefs would be to communicate
the fame in his circular letters to the true
friends of proteftant liberty.

In my opinion, whoever docs not per*
ceive the fpirit of civil as well as religious
independence in this convention and thefe
refolutions of diffenting divines, muft be
politically blind.

Whilft Mr. Grenville was exerting his
financial faculties for the relief of the mo-
ther-country, ready to fink uader the
load of expence brought upon her by that
war which had opened an avenue to
higheft exaltation for her American off-
fpring, Connedticut was early advertifed
by merchants, divines, and ladies, in Eng-
land* that the parliament' was about to

Z give

>

33 8 HISTORY OF

*

give the colonies a fpecimen of Englifli
burthens. The confociation ordered a
faft, to deprecate the threatened judg-
ments. This faft was ferved up with fer-
mons pointing out the reigns of wicked
kings, and what the fathers of the howl-
ing wildernefs of America had luffcred
from the Kings, Lords, and BHhops, in
the laft century; and concluded with,
€t One woe is paft, and behold, there
" come two woes more hereafter !"

A requilition having been made in
1763 that each colony in America Chould
raife a revenue to affift Great-Britain in
difcharging the national debt, which had
been partly incurred at their requeft, and
for their prefervation, the General Af-
iembly was inftrufted by Dr. Franklin
and others how to adt. Accordingly,
the Affembly refolved not to raife any
money towards the national debt, or any
national expences, till the Parliament

(hould remove the navigation a&, which,

they

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CONNECTICUT. 339

they faid, was advantageous to Great-
Britain, and difadvantageous to America ;
and, therefore, Great Britain, in defray-
ing the whole of the national expence,
did nothing more than juftice required,
fo long as that ad fliould be continued.
Such were the arguments and refolution
of the General Affembly, although their
agent in England had informed them,
that, if they refufed to comply with the
requifition of the minifler, the Parliament
would tax them.

The agent's intelligence proved to be
well grounded. In 1765, the Stamp adt
pafled, beptfufe the colonies had refufed
to tax: themfelves. News fo important
fooh arrived in America ; and the Confo-
ciation of Connecticut appointed another
faft, and ordered the angels to found
their trumpet s, and great plagues followed.
Thomas Fitch, the Governor,, (hewed
fome diflike to the proceedings of the
Confociation, but was given to underftand
^ ^ Z 2 " that

340 HISTORY OF

i that Chrift's minifters a&ed by an autho-
rity fuperior to that of a Governor of'
a King. The epifcopalians, and many
fe£ts, faw no reafon for keeping the
faft ; but the Governor obferved it with
a view to fecure his ele&ion- the next
year, and was fuccefsful. The epis-
copalians were rewarded for their difobe-
dience with what was called " A new
« religioils Comic Liturgy, 4 ' which was
printed and circulated through the co*
lony, as the performance, of Dr. Frank-
lin, and afted in many towns by the
young people on evenings, by way of
/port and amufement. The titany was
altered in many places, efpecially in the
paragraphs refpedting the King, Nobi-
lity, &c. and inftead of We befeech thee
io hear us, good Lord ! was fubftituted,
We befeech thee, 0 Cromwell 1 to bear [our
prayers] us—O holy, blejjed and glorious
Trinity I was altered thus, O Chatham !
Wilkes ! and Franklin ! have mercy upon

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CONNECTICUT. 34*

us. From plague, pefiilence, famine, &c.
was followed by O Cromwell ! deliver us.
An epifcopal clergyman had courage
enough to complain of thefe blafphemous
proceedings, and the grand jury indi&ed
the comic a&ore ; but the magiftrate to
whom the complaint was made, refufed to
grant a warrant, uling worfe malediction
againft the King than was contained in the
ludicrous Litany. Hereupon the Grand
Jury indi&ed the magiftrate for high trea-
son, but no magiftrate could be found of
refolution enough to grant a warrant
againft the traitor. However, the Comic
Liturgy was a#ed but privately after*
wards, and, upon the repeal of the ftamp-
a£t, was fuppreffed a« far as they could

do it.

This fccond faft was fen&ified with
preaching on this and fimilar texts, And
there arofe a new King in Egypt who re~
member ed not Jofepbs ahd with praying
Cod to grant tixe King an hear* of fi${h ?

Z 3 mi

3-4* HISTORY OF

and to remove popery out of the Britfth
Parliament.

The ftamp-a& was to take place in
November, 1765; fome months before
which the ftamp-mafter, Jared Ingerfol,
Efq. who had been the colony's agent in
England, arrived at Newhaven, in Con-
nedticut. In September, a fpecial Affem-
bly was convened at Hertford, for the
purpofe of confidering what fteps to take.
As if to avoid acknowledging the fupre-
macy of the Britifli Parliament, they de-
termined not to apply themfelves for the
repeal of the aft ; but fecretly encouraged
a number of lawyers, merchants, and
divines, to meet, by their own authority,
at New- York, for that purpofe. In the
mean time, three mobs were raifed under
Durgy, Leach, and Parfons, who by dif-
ferent routs marched towards Newhaven
to feize the ftamp-mafter. They fuc-
Iceeded j and, having brought their pri-
soner before the Affembly-houfe at Hert-

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CONNECTICUT. 343

■

fbtd, they gave him the alternative to re-
fign or die. Mr. Ingerfol appealed fcve-
ral times by confidential meffengers to
the Affembly then fitting ; but finding
them inclined to countenance the mob,
he was forced to refign, and authenticate
the fame by whirling firft his hat and
next his wig three times round his head,
and then into the air ; whilft the General
Aflembly 1 and Confociation (which laft
Venerable body never fails to be ready
with its counfel and afliftance on all lalu-
tary occafions) fhouted with the muki-
tude, from their windows, at the glorious
atchievement.

This fpecial Affembly, having fuffici-
ently manifefted the part they wifhed
the colony to take, broke up, leaving
farther proceedings to the mob*, who

con-

* The following inftance will (hew that a Con.
ncfticut mob of Sober DiffenHrs is not inferior to a
Loudon mob of drunken conformtjU^ either in

Z 4 point

344 HISTORY OF

continued to aft up to the fpecimen already
given j and to the congrefs at New York,

which

point of ingenuity, low humour, or religious
mockery:

The Jtamp-mafier was declared by the mob at
Hertford to be dead. The mob at Lebanon un-
dertook to fend Ingersol to bis own place. They
made three effigies : one to reprefent Mr. Gren-
ville \ another Ingerfol ; and a third, the Devil.
The laft was drefied with a wig, bat, and black
coat, given by parfon Solomon Williams, of Leba-
non. Mr. Grenville was honoured with a hat,
wig, and coat, a prefent from Mr. Jonathan
Trumbull, who was afterwards chofen Governor.
Mr. Ingerfol was drefled in red, with a lawyer's
wig, a wooden fword, and his hat under his
left arm, by the generoilty of Jofeph Trumbull.
Thus equipped, the effigies were put into a cart
with ropes about their necks, and drawn towards
the gallows. A dialogue enfucd between the
criminals. Some friendftiip feemed to fubfifi
between Mr. Grenville and the Devil, while no-
thing but fueers and frowns palTed from the Devil
to Ingerfol ; and the fawning reverence of the
latter gave his infernal highnefs fuch offence, that
he turned up his breech and difcharged fire, brim-

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CONNECTICUT. 345

which met there accordingly, agreed up*
on and tranfmitted to England a petition
for a repeal of the obnoxious a&.

(lone, and tar, in Ingerfol's face, letting him
all in a blaze; which, however, Mr. GrenvilJ?
generoufly extinguiftied with a fquirt. This
was many times repeated. As the proceffion ad-
vanced, the mob exclaimed, 44 Behold the juft re*
" ward of our agent^ who fold himfelf to Grenville,
* c like Judas, at a price /" In this manner the fare*
was continued till midnight, at which time they
arrived at the gallows ; where a perfon in a long
fhirt, in derifion of the furplice of a church cler^
gyman, addxeffed the criminals with republican
atticifms, ralleries, Sec, concluding thus : " ^l?y
your deaths be tedious and intolerable, and may
your fouls fink quick down to htll^ the reftdence of
tyrants, traitors, and devils }" The effigies
were then turned off, and, after hanging fome time,
were hoifted upon the top of a huge pile of wood*
^nd burnt, that their bodies might (hare a fimilar
fate wkh their fouls. This pious tran faction ex-
alted the character of Mr. Trumbull, and facili-
tated his election to the office of Governor:
^nd what was of further advantage to him, his
ffxoh judged that the bones of Jngerfol's effigy me-

346 HISTORY OF

The Oftober feffion of the General-Af-
fembly is always holden at Newhaven :

theFe

ritcd chriftian burial according to the rites of the
church of England* though he had been brought
up a Sober Diflenter ; and refolved, therefore, to
bury his bones in Hebron. Accordingly thither
they repaired ; and, having made a coffin, dug a
grave in a crofs ftreet, and made every other
preparation for the interment, they fent for the
cpifcopal clergyman there to attend the funeral of
the bones of Ingerfol the traitor. The clergy-
man told the meflengers that neither his office nor
perfon were to be fported w ; th, nor was it his bu-
finefs to bury Sober Dijfenters % who abufe the
church while living. The mob, enraged at this
anfwer, ordered a party to bring the clergyman
by force, or fenJ him to hell after Ingerfol. Thl«
alarmed the people of the town, who inftantly loaded
their mufkets in defence of the clergyman. Thus
checked in their mad career, the mob contented
themfelves withafolemn funeral proceffion, drums
beating, and horns blowing, and buried the coffin
in the crofs ftreet, one of the pantomimes bawling
out, IVe commit this traitor's bones to the earthy
ajhes to duft and duji to afies, in fure and certain hope
that his foul is in hell with all tories and enemies

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CONNECTICUT. 347

there and then they were informed by
Mr. Dyer *, who had made one of the
petitioners at New- York, that it was re-
commended by the Congrefs for the co*
lonial Governors to take the oath pre-
fcribed by the ftamp aft. The General
Aflembly, however, voted that the Go-
vernor of Connedticut (hould not take it ;
and moreover determined to continue

of Zion. Then, having driven a flake through the
coffin, and each caft a ftonc upon the grave,
they broke a few windows, curfed fuch clergymen
as rode in chaifes and were above the controul of
God's people, and went off with a witlefs faying,
viz. If It is better to live with the church militant
* 6 than with the church triumphant."

* This Mr. Dyer had been in England, had pe-
titioned for, and, through Dr. Franklin's intereft,
obtained a new office at the port of New-London,
viz. that of Comptroller ; but afterwards had
thought proper to refign that office, in order to be
made a judge of the fuperior court and one of the
council, — and, forfooth, that a ftranger only
might ferve the King of Great Britain in the cha-
racier of a publican in Connecticut.

Mr.

£4« HISTORY OP

Mr. Fitch in his office, notwithstanding
the disfranchifemertt incident on his re-
ftffal, if he would be guided by their ad-
tice ; and the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer De-
votion, one of the Reprefentatives, and
Ehphalet Dyer (above mentioned), one
Of the council, offered to pay the impofed
fine of iooo/. However, the Governor
prefented himfelf before the Council,
whofe bufinefs it was to adminifter the
oath j but which, it is thought, Mr. Fitch
prefumed would be denied, and therefore
artfully devifed this means at once of
avoiding the oath and {hifting the penal-
ties from himfelf upon them. Seven out
of twelve, fufpedting the Governor's defign,
put their fingers in their ears, fhuffled
their feet, and ran groaning out of the
houfe j the other five itaid, and admi-
mftered the oath, with a view to fave
themfelves and the charter, and direit the
wrath of the people againft the Gover-
nor $ but in this they were ttriftaken, in*

curring

Digitized by

CONNECTICUT. 34)

earring in common with him the odium,
of the patriots.

The ftamp-ad having thus gained
footing, the Affembly broke up. Legal
proceedings alfo were difcontinued, and
the courts of juftice ftut. The Confo-
ciation and Affociations kept frequent
fafts of their own appointment, praying
and preaching againft Roman -Catholic
rulers, Arminian governors, folfe-hearted
counfellors, and epifcopizing curates*
Hereupon the mobs became Qutrageou&r
fedition was law, and rebellion gofpel.
The late ftamp - mafter was called a
traitor to his country, and the epifcopa-
lians enemies to Zion and liberty.

The fallings, prayers, and riots, brought
about a revolution in the colony. Fitch,
who had taken, and the five affiftants who
had adminiftered, the oath, as well as
many officers both civil and military,
who declined to take a rebellious part,
were difmiffed from their pofts; and

a new

350 HISTORY OF

a new Governor, other counfellors, &c,
were chofen, and the people fitted for
every kind of mifchief $ all, however,
under the pretence of religion and liberty.
The patriotic Mr. Dyer diftinguifhed
himfelf by furnifhing the fafting mi-
nifters with proper materials to inflame
the minds of the people againft the juft
demands of the King. One of his
Machiavelian dogma's was, that the
King claimed the colonies as his patri-
mony, and intended to raife a revenue in
each province 5 and that, having gained
this point, his purpofe was to govern
England by America, and America by
England, and thereby fubvert liberty and
eftablifh tyranny in both, as the Kings of
France had done by means of the va-
rious parliaments in that country. Mr.
Dyer declared he had this information
from the beft authority in England ; and
added, that the liberties of both coun-
tries depended on America refitting the

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CONNECTICUT. 351

ftamp-aft, even unto blood. Thefe and
fuch-like reveries fupplled the minif-
ters of the gofpel with a great body of
political divinity, and the mob with cou-
rage to break churchmens windows, and
cry out, "No Bifhops ! no popery ! nor
u King, Lords, and Tyrants 1" Every
thing but decency and order over-run
the colony. Indeed, the General Af-
fembly kept up their meetings, but it
was only to tranfadt fuch bufinefs as was
not affe&ed by the ftamp-adl. The
mobs of the fafting minifters continued
their lawlefs proceedings, without further
interruption and impediment than what
they met with from the ftrenuous exer-
tions of the King's friends, who had re-
peatedly faved the lives of the ftamp-
mafter, Governor Fitch, the five reje&ed
counfellors, the epifcopal clergy, and many
good fubje£te, at the hazard of their own,
though they could not preferve them
from daily abufe and infult.

The

$$t MtSTOHY 0

The mobs, having been fpirited tip
find trained to violence and outrage fbf
feveral months, began to give fome
alarm even to their inftigators, efpe*
dally as they Were hitherto difappointed
in their expectations of the adt being re-
pealed. The Governor and Council, there-
fore, diredting their attention to the dan-*
gerous confequences of the lawlefs ftate
and refradtory temper the people were in,
and being ftruck with the fore fight of
their own perilous fituation, refolved, early
Ifi 1766, to open the courts of law Undef
the ftamp-adt, if the very next packet
did not bring certain advice of its repeal $
and, all parties, who had ca*ifes depend-
ing iri any court, were to be duly noti-
fied by the Governor's proclamation. This
determination was no lefs mortifying to the
mob than grateful to the King's friends,
who were convinced that the ftamp-adt
ought, both in policy and juftice, to be
Enforced, and therefore had riiked theif

lives,

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CONNECTICUT; 553

lives, fortunes; characters, and colonial
honours in its fupport. The patriots,
now apparently fickened, with licentiouf-
llefs, became very complaifant to the
loyalifts, declaring that, in all their op-
pofition to the ftamp-adt, they had meant
riothing perfonal, and defiring to have
part animofities buried in oblivion; All
things thus fettled, tranquillity feemed to
be returning; when, lo ! the packet ar-
rived with the fatal news of the repeal of
the ftamp-aft. Then a double portion of
madnefs feized the patriots, who, in their
excefs of joy, that vittory was gained over
the beaft, and over his mark, utterly for-
got their late penitential and tranquil pro-
feflions ; branding the King's friends with
the appellations of tories, jacobites, and
papifts. The gofpel minifters left off
their fafting, and turned th^ir mourning
into joy and triumph. '* Now we be-
4< hold," faid they in their pulpits, " that
" Great-Britain is afraid of us ; for the

A a «' (lamp-

354 HISTORY OF

•

• K ftamp-a& is repealed, even upon the
*< petition of an illegal body of men : if,
« c therefore, we ftand faft in the liberties
" wherein Cbrijt has made us free, we
" need not fear in future the ufurpati'ons
u of the King, Lords, and Bifliops af
u England/' The accompanying claim af
Parliament to the power of binding Ame-
rica in all cafes whatfoever, was, indeed,
a thorn which galled them much but
they found a falvo in ordering a copy of
the repeal to be burnt under the gallows
by the common hangman. The General
Aflembly alfo Hepped forward, and voted
the populace feveral barrels of powder
and puncheons of rum, together with
loo/, in money, to celebrate the feftival.
A tremendous mob met together at Hert-
ford, and received their prefent. The
powder was placed in a large briek febool,
and the rum on the common fquare.
"While each one was contending for his
ihare, the powder took fire, _and blew

Digitized by Go

CONNECTICUT. 35$

*

tip the fchool, killing 15 or 16 perfons,
and wounding many. This difafter fhook
the houfe where the Confociation was
fitting; upon which they relblved that
Heaven did not approve of their rejoicings,
becaufe the repeal was but partial ; they,
therefore, ordered a new faft to do away
the iniquities of that day, and to implore
the Supreme to direft them in what man-
ner to guard againft the machinations of
the locufls, who had a king over them,
wbofe name in the Hebrew tongue is Abad-
don, but in the Greek Apollyon.

This faft was cooked up with a favou-
rite text in New-England, viz. u He re-
proved even Kings for their fake. 19 From
thefe words the preachers proved that
the King's power lay in his mouth and
in his tail, which, like a ferpent, did
hurt for a month and a year ; and that
God would protedt his people againft
the murders, the forceries, the fornica-
tion, the thefts, of bi(hops> popes, and

A a z kings,

356 HISTORY OF

Jcings, and make nations angry, and give
them power to . judge and to deftroy thofe
who would deftroy his prophets and his
faints. In this day of great humiliation,
( the prophets entertained the faints with a
fpice of rejoicing, becaufe Viftory was
gotten over the beajl, and ever his image \
and over his mark, and over the number
of his name : — u therefore," faid they, "re-
joice, 0 inhabitants of the earth and of the
Jea y becaufe we can yet buy and fell
without the mark, or the name of the
beaft, or the number of his name. 1 '

This bombaftic declamation againft the
authority of Great-Britain raifed the paf-
fions of a great portion of the multitude
higher than was intended. They had
lately been tutored to form high notions
of their own confequence, had been in-
toxicated with a life of confufion in a law-
kfs country, and had now no relifh for a
government of any kind whatever : accor-
dingly, inflamed by the rbapfodies of the

preachers,

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CONNECTICUT. 357

preachers, they fet themfelves againfl: that
of the colony j arguing, that, if the Lord
would reprove Kings, Lords, and Bifhops,
for their fake, he would aifo reprove go-
vernors, magiftrates, and confociations, for
their fake. This revolt of a part of the
people was encouraged and ftrengthened
by the adherents of Governor Fitch, the
fivedifcarded counfellors, and the loyalifts;
fo that very formidable bodies foon ap-
peared in divers towns, threatening de-
ftrudtion to the General AfTembly, con-
fociation,aflbciations, executive courts, &c.
&c. Colonel Street Hall, of Walling-
ford, a loyalift, was appointed General
over thefe iupreme multitudes. They
foon acquainted the General AfTembly
and Confociation, that, by the authority
that England had been reformed, by the
fame authority mould ConnL&icut be re-
formed ; and Mr. Hall fent a letter to the
judges of the county court, then fitting at
Newhaven, purporting, that it was not
, A a 3 agree-

35 8 HISTORY OF

agreeable to the people for them to con-
tinue their proceeding?, or that any exe-
cutions fihouLi be granted ; and conclud-
ing thus, " Tou, that have ears to hear,
c * hear what is faid unto you ; — for ive
"J/:a/I quickly come! 1 ' The judges, with-
out hefitation or adjournment, ran out of
court, and went home as privately as
poffible. The merchants, the gofpel mi-
nifters, the lawyers, and judges, who had
with great zeal inculcated the divine right
of the people to refill kings, found them-
felves in a ftarving condition under the
exertion of that boafted right. The Ge-
neral Aflembly and Affociaticn, however,
again convened, and, after much fading
and prayer, refolved, that the conduft of
Street Hall, Elq. and his affociates, was
feditious and trvafonable.; and ordered the
Attorney-General, Colonel Elihu Hall, to
indid his nephew Street Hall, for treafon-
able pra&ices. The Attorney-General
refufed to comply with their mandate,

Where-

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CONNECTICUT. 359

whereupon he was difmifled, and James
Hil!houfe, Efq. appointed in his place,
who indited Street Hall ; but no fheriff
■dared ferve the warrant. Street Hall or-
dered his people to prepare for battle, and
to be ready at a minute's warning ; and
rode about with one fervant in defiance
of the General Afllmbly, who likewife
prepared to fupport their power. It was
moft likely that Street Hall would have
prevailed, had an engagement taken place $ „
for the epifcopalians, and all the friends
of Mr. Fitch and the five difmifled coun-
fellors, would have fupported Mr. Hall.
But a battle was prevented by the interpo-
fition of the Confociation with this curious
Gofpel axiom, viz. that it was legal and
politic in the people to oppofe and refift
the foreign pavver which was unjuftly
claimed by the K ing of Great-Britain j but
it was neither politic nor right to oppofe
the magiftrates and laws made by them-
Jfelyes* They prevailed on Street Hall to

A a 4 .coa

t

r

360 HISTORY OF

condefcend to write to the General Af-
fembly, to this effedt : " That he was a
? c friend to the laws and conftitution of
the colony, and wiflied to fupport both;
f and fhould do it, on condition that
" they would refcind their vote, and
*' that no one fhould be profecuted for
f c what had been done by him and

" his affociates." The Affembly very

gladly voted this overture of Street Hall
to be fatisfadtory ; and thus peace was
fe-eftabliiTjed between the Affembly and
Street Hall. Neverthelefs, Mr. Hall was
greatly cenfured by his partizans for this
compromife; and he lived in conftant
expectation of their hanging him, till he
foftened them by this remarkable addref§
in vindication of his conduit :

We have done," faid he, "every
" thing in our power to fupport the autho T
" rity of the Britifli parliament over the
€i colonies. We have loft our property,
f« local reputations, and all colonial of-

" fices

gitized by Googl

CONNECTICUT, 361

'* ficcs and refpeft among our own coun-
u tryinen, in defence of that King and
f« Parliament, who have not flied a tear
" at our fufFerings, nor failed to facrifice
u their own dignity, and their beft friends,
u to pleafe a party that will never be eafy

until another Oliver arife to extirpate
" Kings, Lords, and Bifliops. By hea-
f vens I" added Street Hall, with great
energy, " I will reft my life upon this
f § fingle queftion, Who would ftand up in
? c defence of a King who prefers his ene-
M mies to his friends?— If you acquit me,
5* I Aall more fully declare my prin-
f c ciples,"

The mob, after much confideration,
declared their approbation of Mr. Hall's
condudt; upon which he refumed his
addrefs nearly as follows :

" Gentlemen, We have once been be-
et trayed and forfaken by the King and
f € Parliament of Great-Britain ; no de-
f c pendence, then, ought henceforth to be

<c placed

s *t HISTORY OF

4t placed upon cither. It is plain to mcl
4i that, if we had extirpated the General
4< Aflembly, and all the avowed enemies
41 of the conftirution of Great-Britain, yet
" that very Parliament would have been
<£ the firfl of all the creation to honour us
€t with a gallows for our reward. I
K * therefore fwear, by Him who controuls
44 the wheels of time, that, in future, I
4i will fupport the laws and dignity oi this
* f colony, and never more put any conji-
** dence in Princes, or the Britifh Parlia-
" ment. The Saviour of the World

trufted Judas but once ; and it is my opi-
" nion, that thofe who betray and for fake
€t their friends, ought to experience the
4t wrath and ingratitude of friends turned
cc enemies. In this cafe, bafenefs is po-
€t licy ; ingratitude, loyalty; and revenge,
* -•-heroic virtue !"

Colonel Street Hall fpoke with great
vehemence, and might be cenfured for
his raihnefs by people who were not in

America

Digitized by Go

CONNECTICUT. 3^

America at the time : but his fentiments
reached the hearts of half the King's
friends there $ for the repeal of the ftamp-
ad had fixed in their breafts an everlaft-
ing hatred of the fickle temper of Britons.
» Few people, hereafter, will advance
fixpence in fupport of any ads of the Par-
liament of Great-Britain over her colonies.
Prior to the year 1766, fuch a public fpirit
prevailed in America over private intereft,
as would naturally have led the people to
ponform to any ads of a Britifh Parlia-
ment, from a deep-rooted confidence that
the requifitions of Britain would be no
other than the requifitions of wifdom and
neceflity. Two thirds, I may fay with
fafety, of all the people in America,
thought there were wifdom and juftice in
the ftamp-ad, and wifhed to have it con-
tinued, firft, becaufe they were fenfible
of being greatly indebted to the generofity
and protedion of Britain ; fecondly, be-
caufe they had rather be fubjed to the

controul

564 HISTORY OP

controul of Parliament in regard to a re-
venue, than have it raifed by the autho-
rity of their own affemblies, who favour
the rich and oppreis the poor ; and, thirdly,
becaufe the ftamp-adt would have pre-
vented innumerable fuits at law, the cofts
of which in Connecticut have, during the
laft forty years, amounted to ten times as
much as alj others for war, gofpel, phyfic,
the poor, &c. &c, &c. It is impoffible
to defcribe the difappointment and mortis
fication they fuffered by the repeal of that
aft : it cxpofed them to calumny, deri-
lion, and opprefiion j it difheartened all,
and occafioned the defection of many;
whilft their adverfaries triumphed in the
encouragement it Ijad given them to pro*
fecute their malicious fchemes againft the
church, king, laws, and commerce of
England. However, in regard to the
queftion of raifing a revenue in America,
I have never met with one American
yvho would not allow (though unwillingr

ly)

Digitized by Googl

CONNECTICUT. 365

ly) the reafonablenefs of it, with certain
conditions and provifos. Thus, 1. the
judges and lawyers required the tax
to be impofed by the General Affembly
of each province : — 2. The merchants,
whofe confcience is gain, and who com-
monly conftitute more than half of the
Affembly, declared, that, before any re-
venue was raifed, the navigation - adt
(hould be repealed, and the EafMndia
Company, and all the monopolies, di£
folved: — 3. The Gofpel minifters, whofe
power in New England is terrible to flefli
and fpirit, would contribute to a revenue,
after the King and Parliament had dropped
their claim to fupreme authority over
America, and fecured the American vine,
againft the domination and ufurpations
of biftiops. To thefe fources may be
traced all the objections ever made againft
a revenue in America, which fpring from
three orders of men, of the leaft real be-
nefit to that country, and whofe propor-
tion to all others there is not as one to an

hundred ;

$66 HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT*

hundred ; though they have had the aft
and addrefs, by impofition and delation,
to involve them in their tumultuous, con-
tentious, and ruinous projefts and under- 4
takings. — Indeed, the clergy, lawyers, and
merchants of European countries, have
been reprefented, as the worft enemies
of fociety — the great promoters of difcord,
war, infurredtions, and rebellions $ but
the heathen have not yet given us an
example how depraved mankind would
be without them. However, fuppofing
the crimination to have foundation, them
is one good reafon to be offered in pallia-
tion of it. Moft governments are too apt
to adopt the maxim of rewarding profpe-
rous oppofing. zealots j whilft the exer-
tions of oppreffed friends are palled over,
if not with contempt, at leaft with filent
neglefl:. Hence, men will naturally be
induced, in defiance of law and gofpel, to
head parties, to become confequential in
the world.

* *

APPENDIX.

Digitized by Go

APPENDIX.

THE preceding fheets bring the
hiftory of Connecticut to its lateft
period of amity with Great Britain, agree-
able to the plan on which it was begun,
I have been advifed, however, to lay be-
fore my readers, in an appendix, a fum-
mary account of the proceedings of the
people of Connecticut immediately lead-*
ing to their open commencement of hofti-
lities againft the Mother-Country, not
only becaufe fome events are not at
all, or erroneoufly known here, but alfo
becaufe they will form a fupplement ne-
ceffary in ftveral inftances to what has
been already related. Another reafon
which induces me to make the propofed
addition, is, the opportunity it will give me
of laying before the Public, by way of in-
troduction, fome matter which, I flatter

myfelf,

368 APPENDIX.

myfelf, may not be wholly undeferving
the attention of Government, at, I truft,
an approaching lignal sera in Britifh and
American hiftory. This, I am fure of,
that no chimaera of vanity, but a thorough
convi&on in my own breaft of the foun-
dation they have in truth, is the fole mo-
tive of my thus committing my thoughts
upon the fubje£t to the prefs.

Many writers have endeavoured to
point out the motive which prompted
the Americans to the wi(h of being in-
dependent of Great-Britain, who had,
for a century and a half, nurfed and pro-
tected thern with parental tendernefs ; but
they have only touched upon the reafons
oftenfibly held up by the Americans,
but which are merely a veil to the true
caufes. Thefe, therefore, I fhall endea-
vour to fet before the reader, unheed-
ing the imputation of arrogance and pre-
emption I may expofe myfelf to, and
relying upon the knowledge I have of

the

Digitized by G

A P P E N D I X. 369

the temper and circumftances of the peo-
ple for the juftification of my affertions.

In the firft place, England, a6 if afraid
to venture her conftitution in America,
has kept it at an awful diftance, and efta-
bliflied in too many of her colonies re-
publicanifm, wherein the democratic ab-
forbs the regal and ariftocratic parts of the
Englifli conftitution. The people na-
turally imbibed the idea that they were
fuperior to Kings and Lords, becaufe they
controuled their reprefentatives, gover-
nors, and their councils. This is the in-
fallible confequence of popular govern-
ments.

Secondly, the Englifli have, like the
Dutch, adopted the errors of ancient
Rome, who judged her colonies could be
held in fubjedtion only by natives of Rome;,
and therefore all emoluments were care-
fully with-held from natives of colonies.

Thirdly, the learned and opulent fa-
milies in America have not been honoured

Bb by

Digitized by Google

37 o APPENDIX.

by their King, like thofe born in Bri-
tain.

Fourthly, the Americans faw them-
felves defpifed by the Britons, " though
bone of their bone 9 and fiejh of their fejh:"
they felt, and complained of, without
redrefs, the fad effe&s of convidts, the
curfes of human fociety, and the difgrace
of England, taken from the dungeons,
jails, and gibbets, and poured into Ame-
rica as the common (hore of England, to
murder, plunder, and commit outrage
upon a people " whom the King did not
delight to honour"

Hence the prefent rebellion. Human
nature is always fuch, that men will ne-
ver ceafe ftruggling for honour, wealth,
and power, at the expence of gratitude,
loyalty, and virtue. Indignation and de-
fpair feized the gentlemen in America,
who thought, like Haman, that their
affluence and eafe were nothing worth,
fo long as they lay under their Sovereign's

con-

Digitized by Go

APPEND I X. 37 t

contempt. They declared that the infult
reached the whole continent* in which
are to be found only two Baronets of
Great-Britain, while all the other inhabi-
tants are held beneath the yeomanry of
England. They added, " Let Caefar trem->
" ble ! let wealth and private property
u depart to deliver our country from the
" injuries of our elder brethren.'* How
eafily might this rebellion have been
averted by the babiole of titles ! With
what reafon faftions and difcontents fprung
up in South-America, may be learned
from the dear-bought wifdom of Spain,
The Spaniards bom in the vice-royalties
of Peru and New Granada, rich and
learned, highly efteemed by their coun-
trymen, and of more influence in their
feveral provinces than all the nobility,
clergy, and merchants, in Spain ; whofe
fathers, to enlarge the empire of their
fovereign, emigrated, with the natural
rights of Spaniards, to almoft a burning

B b 2 world,

372 APPENDIX.

ft

world, where they opened rocky mines,
toiled in heats and rains to hew out gold
and filver, to eredt and cover royal and
noble domes and pave the roads of Hefpe-
ria ; — thofe American - born Spaniards,
I fay, were yet, after all, excluded from
royal honours and truft, by a falfe
and difgraceful principle that colonifts
will only be loyal when poor and neg-
lected — a maxim which (hook ancient
Rome, failed Spain, and has thrown
Britain into convulfions $ — a maxim falfe
in nature and experience, without juftice
and without policy ; — and, yet, a maxim
which men in power have adopted
with intention to fecure to themfelves
and their pofterity the monopoly of noble
blood— without once refle&tng, that emi-
grants, who had been hardy enough to
ftorm rugged mountains in the tranfatlan-
tic world, for the fake of converting po-
verty into riches, would afterwards feek
honours and noble names through blaze and

ruin,

i

Digitized by Go

APPENDIX. 373

ruin, with more avidity than adventurers
under Pizarro ever fought the wealth of
Potofi and La Plata. Kad the Dons of
Spain been aftuated by principles of juf-
tice, they would not have treated the
Spanifli natives of South America as
aliens, as a race of beings unworthy of
royal notice, truft, and dignity, which
they themfelves enjoyed, though they
had never wet their fingers in exploring
new worlds, or in perforating the golden
Andes. — But experience and neceffity cut
fhort their pride j and compelled them to
liberal dealings with their diftant brethren,
on pain of lofing them as they had loft
the Netherlands. No good politician will
v fuppofe merit lefs deferving of reward,
merely becaufe the pofleflbr of it was born
at the diftance of 5000 miles from Ma-
drid ; or that royal favours belong folely
to the nobility, who fhine more from
their anceftors virtues than from their own.
Spain took the hint in time, and fhared

B b 3 roy il

374 A P P E N D I X,

royal honours amongft her younger bre-
thren, which produced a conciliation be-
tween her dominions in the two worlds,
that age or deipair can never deftroy.—
Spain tranfported to her colonies her own
conftitution in church and ftate — re-
warded merit in whatever part of her ter-
ritories it appeared — fent bifhops to
govern and ordain in every church in
South America, and they, together with
the native noblefTe, promote harmony,
the offspring of juftice and policy ; while
North America abounds with difcord,
hatred, and rebellion, entirely from the
want of policy and juftice in their party-
coloured charters, and of the honours and
privileges of natural-born fubjedts of Great
Britain.

It appears to me, that the Britifh go-
vernment, in the laft century, did not exr
pe& New- England to remain under their
authority; nor did the New-Englanders
confider themfelves as fubjedts, but allies,

pf

/

<

i

Digitized by G

APPENDIX. 375

of Great-Britain. It feems that England's
intent was to afford an afylum to the re-
publicans who had been a fcourge to the
Britifli conftitution ; and fo, to encourage
that reftlefs party to emigrate, republican
charters were granted, and privileges and

promifes given them far beyond what an
Englifhman in England is entitled to. The
emigrants were empowered to make laws,
in church and ftate, agreeable to their
own will and pleafure, without the King's
approbation— they were excufed from all
quit-rents, all government taxes, and
promifed protedtion without paying
homage to the Britifh King, and their
children entitled to the fame rights and
privileges as if born in England. How-
ever hard this bargain was on the fide of
England, (he has performed her part,
except in this laft refpeft— indeed the
moil material in policy and in the minds
of the principal gentlemen of New-Eng-
land. The honour of nobility has not been

B b 4 conferred

37^ APPENDIX.

conferred on any of them ; and therefore
they have never enjoyed flie full pri-
vileges and liberties of Britons j but in
a degree haVe ever been held in bondage
under their chartered republican fyftems,
wherein gentlemen of learning and pro-
perty attain not to equal power with the
peafants. The people of New-England are
rightly ftiled republicans ; but a diftin&ion
fhould be made between the learned and
unlearned, the rich and poor. The lat-
ter form a great majority j the minority,
therefore, are obliged to wear the livery
of the majority, in order to fecure their
eledlion into office, Thofe very republi-
can gentlemen are ambitious, fond of the
power of governing, and grudge no money
nor pains to obtain an annual office.
What would they not give for a dignity
depending not on the fickle will of a mul-
titude, but on the ftcady reafon and ge-
nerofity of a King? The merchants,
lawyers, and clergy, to appearance are

republicans;

Digitized by Googl

APPENDIX. 377

republicans ; but I will venture to aflert,
that not one in a hundred of them is
really fo. The truth is, they found ne-
ceflity on one hand, and Britifh negledt
on the other, to be fo intolerable, that
they rather chofe to rifque their lives and
fortunes to bring about a revolution, than
continue in the fituation they were. As
to the multitude, they had no caufe of
complaint : they were accufer, judge, king,
and fubjedts only to themfelves. — The
rebellion fprings not from them, but the
merchants, lawyers, and clergy, who yet
are not inimical to the ariftocratic branch
of government, provided they are admitted
to (hare in it according to their merit.
It is true, they, like Calvin, the author
of their religion, maintain, that no man
can merit any thing of the Great Eternal :
neverthelefs, they think they have merited
the ariftocratic honours which emanate
from earthly kings; while kings and
nobles of the earth imagine themfelves to

have

37 8 APPENDIX.

have merited more than they yet enjoy,
even heaven itfelf, only becaufe they hap-
pen to be defcendants of heroic anceftors.

It is laid down as a maxim in Englifh
politics, that the ariftocratic dignity is the
great barrier between regal and popular
power. Had Charles the Firft believed
and obferved this do&rine, he had faved
his own life and the liberties of his
people ; and had Kings fince his death
entertained the fame opinion of the No-
bility, they would have multiplied and
fpread them in every province as a royal
blefling due to their fubjects. Would
Britons confent tQ give up the Houfe of
Lords ? If not, why fhould they wifli
to debar America from fuch a favour ?
Should the Englifh nobility imagine their
own importance leffened by the increafe
of Englifli Lords, they will not be able to
prove that an American peerage would
not be as ufeful in that country as an Eng-
Jifh peerage is here. Policy and experience

fhew

APPENDIX. 37,

(hew that mankind are bound by their
intereft and guided by their profpe&s s
yet how remifs has England been in
tempting her colonies with her own no-
ble and glorious conftitution ! Is it at all
furprizing, that, after a long fufferance of
fuch negledt, and the evils I have pointed
out, the hidden fire of indignation fliould
at length break forth in America, with a
blaze that fpreads ruin and death through-
out that land, and ftrikes terror into this !
England now condefcends to view the
Americans as fellow-fubjedts, and even
treats with their generals, though taken
from jails and outlawed by herfelf : early
juftice and indulgence would have re-
moved from the parent this humiliating
condudl, and united both worlds in one
bond of love. — But the day is far fpent,
and will not wrath burn jor ever ?

England has alfo been as careful to
Jceep to herfelf her religion and Bifhops
as her civil conftitution and baronies.

An

3 8o APPENDIX.

An Indian chief once aflted me, fl Whe-
u thcr Bifliops were too good or too bad
f< for America ?" He added, " If they are
<c good in England, why not in Amc-
" rica ? and if bad, why preferred in
u England ?" A million of churchmen in
America have been confidered not worthy
of one bifliop, while eight millions in
South Britain, are fcarccly honoured
enough with twenty-fix : an infult on
common juftice, which would have extin-
guiihed every fpark of affedtion in Ame-
rica for the Englifh church, and created
an everlafting fchifm like that between
Conftantinople and Rome, had not the
majority of the American epifcopal clergy
been poflefled of lefs ambition than love
and zeal. They have fuffered on both
fides the Atlantic ia name * and property,

for

* William Smith, in his Hiftory of New- York,
p. 56, like his brother Douglas, aflerts, that the
miflionaries and epifcopal clergy have been guilty

of

APPENDIX. 381

>

for their endeavours to keep up a union
between the mother and her children;

but

of writing home to the Society for the Propagation
of the Gofpel c< amazing falflioods and mifrepre-
fentations and he adds, " that it would be an
agreeable office to him to diftinguifh the innocent
from the guilty." Then why not fo prove his
charge ? Becaufe, fays he, in p. 242, " the pru-
«« dent hiftorian of his own times will always be a
" coward, and never give fire, till death protects
" him from the malice and ftroke of his enemy
a fentiment borrowed from the old adage, Mortui
non mordent, and truly worthy of the writer.
But what have been Mr. Smith's character and
prudence frnce the commencement of the prefent
rebellion ? Did he not, in 1774, out of his great
veneration for chriftianity, liberty, and his king,
excite and encourage the mobs of New- York in
their oppofition to the church, laws, and George III ?
—In 1775$ did not he and his aflbciates, finding
themfelves inefficient to effect their glorious pur-
pofes, requeft the afliftance of their chriftian
brethren of Connecticut againft the mighty ene-
mies of the American Vine, who accordingly re-
paired thither under the conduct of Waterbury and
"Woofer, two villains that were conceived in Jin

and

t

i . /

i

%Zz APPENDIX.

but all their arguments and perfuafioni
were infufEcient to convince their bre-
thren that England would in future be

and from the womb went /peaking lies ? Did not they
fbon become matters of the city, and intolerable
tyrants over loyal fubjccts ?— In 1776, did not
Mr. Smith's mob plunder the city of New-York*
not excepting the churches and college ; then fet
it on fire, and fly by the blaze into the howling
wildernefs, with the heroes mentioned in his Hif-
tory, viz. Livingfton, Schuyler, Morris, and other
traitors? From whence, in 1777, did not Mr.
Smith return to New- York, by the advice of
his comrades, to manifeft his loyalty and love of
the proteftant religion, to ferve the Congrefs and
his King, and to fave harmlefs the rebels above-
mentioned, and their copartners in murder, plun-
der, and treafon ? Are thefe the virtues, William
Smith ! that, in 1780, were fo confpicuous, as to
procure thy being appointed Chief Juftice of a
facked and ruined people ?— The imprudent hijld-
rian of his own times is no coward^ nor does he fear
thy malice, which, above all things, except thy
hypocrify and treachery, paffes all human under*
fandhg. — " Quelques uns dirent, e'eft par Beelze-
" bul qu'il chafTe les demons." Les autres dirent*
que fa mere tenoit dc Tair de Marie Magdelaine,
apres que la fage-femme eut chaflee trois demons.

more

1

Digitized by Google

APPENDIX, 383

more generous towards her colonies — One
of the firft fruits of the grand continental
meeting of diflenting divines at Newhaven
was a coalition between the republican
and the minor part of the epifcopal clergy,
who were foon joined by the merchants,
lawyers, and planters, with a view of
procuring titles, ordination, and govern-
ment, independent of Great Britain, who
had too long played with divide & impera.

Of fuch fort, I am bold to pronounce
to the world, were the real fources of
the prefent rebellion in America. The
invafion of this or that colonial right, the
oppreffion of this or that aft of parlia-
ment, were merely the pretended caufes of
it, which the ill-humour of a mifgoverned
people prompted them eagerly to hold up;
caufes, which would never have found
exiftence, whofe exiftence had never
been neceflary, if a better fyftem of Ame-
rican policy had been adopted, but being
produced, the (hadow of complaint wa9

exhibited

384 APPENDIX.

exhibited inftead of the fubftance — pre-
tence* inftead of reality — every republican
pulpit refounded with invedtives againft the
King, Lords, and Commons, who claimed
a power to tax and govern the people of
America ; a power which their charters
and anceftors knew nothing of, " Bri-
M tons," faid they, " call our property
" theirs ; they confider us as flaves, as
<c hewers of wood, and drawers of water 9
<c to the defcendants of thofe tyrants in
u church and ftate, who in the laft cen-
" tury expelled and perfecuted our fathers
€( into the wilds of America. We have
<c charters facred as Magna Chart a and
" the Bill of Rightt." They declared
that the liberties of America ought to be
defended with the blood of millions ; that
the Attorney General ought to impeach
the Parliament of Great -Britain, and
all its abettors, of high-treafon, for dar-
ing to tax the freemen of America ; that
each colony was a palatinate, and the

people

APPENDIX. 385

people the palatine j that the people of
Connecticut had as much authority to
iffue a writ of Quo Warranto againft
Magna Charta, as the King had to order
fuch a writ againft the charter of Con-
nedticut.

By ravings of this kind did the Sober
Diflenters rrfanifeft their difcontents, when
the various meafures for raifing a revenue
in America were adopted by the Britifh
miniftry. That of fending tea to Ame-
rica in 1773, fubjedt to a duty of 3</. in
the pound, payable there, particularly
excited their clamour, as defigned, they
faid, to eftablifli a precedent of Britifli
taxation in that country ; and, notwith-
ftanding all the remonftrances of the
loyalifts, who ftrenuoufly exerted them-
felves in removing vulgar prejudices, and
procuring a reconciliation with circum-
ftances rendered unavoidable by the necef-
fity of the times, they effedtually inflamed
the minds of the populace, by reading, in

C c the

3 86

APPENDIX.

the meetings on Sundays, letters faid to
have been fent by Dr. Franklin, J. Tem-
ple, and a certain female writer in Eng-
land, reprefenting the danger of paying
any tax impofed by Parliament, and the
evils proteftantifm was threatened with
by a Roman Catholic King, by jacobites,
tories, and the epifcopal clergy in both
countries, all enemies to liberty and the
American vine ; and adding, that, if the
Americans paid the tax on tea, there were
300 other taxes ready to be impofed upon
them, one of which was " 50/. for every
fon born in wedlock, to maintain the na-
tural children of the Lords and Bifhops in
England."

The moderate counfel of the loyalifts
had formerly been attended with fome
effedt ; but it was forced to give place to
the ribaldry juft mentioned j and an op-
pofition much more refolute was deter-
mined upon againft the tea-adt than had
been made to the ftamp-adt A provin-
cial

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APPENDIX* iSf

cial congrefs, committees of correfpon-
dence, committees of fafety in every town*
&c. &c. now ftarted up, for the purpofe
of fetting the colony in an uproar againft
the parliament of Great-Britain. To thia.
end contributed not a little the falfhoods and
artifices of Mr. Hancock and other 13of-
tonian merchants, who had in their ftore-
houfes near 40,000 half-boxes of teas
fmuggled from the Dutch, which would
never have been fold, had the Company's
teas been once admitted into America, as
the latter were not only the better in qua-
lity, but, the duty being reduced from 1/.
to 3//. would be alfo the much cheaper
commodity. Mr. Hancock and his com-
patriots, therefore, were by no means
wanting in endeavours to procure the firft
teas which arrived in New-England the
reception they met with in the harbour of
Bofton. That famous exploit afforded
them an opportunity of clearing their
warehoufes, which they prudently refolv-

C c 2 ed

383 APPENDIX.

cd to do as foon as poffible, left the re-
ception of the Company's tea in other
provinces, or other poffible circumflances,
(hould afterwards put k out of their power*
An idea began to prevail, that a non-im-
portation of tea was an advifeable meafure
upon the prefent occafion ; accordingly,
they advertifed,that, after difpofing of their
prefent flock, they would not import, or
have any further dealings in tea, for two
years. This at once tended to fill their
pockets and exalt their charadters as pa-
triots. The people, ignorant of the large-
aefs of fuch flock, and apprehenfive of
being deprived of an article they were
paffionately fond of, eagerly furnifhed
themfelves with quantities fufficient for
that time, moflly of [about 30,-40, or 50
pounds, notwithflanding the price was
advanced is. per pound, upon the pre-
tence of railing money to pay for the tea
deflroyed in order to fecure the religion
and liberty of America, which, under that

idea,

>■

Digitized by Go

APPENDIX. 3B9

idea, It was generally acknowledged ought
to be done. When the tea was moltly
difpofed of, the people found that the extra
price they had given for it was de-
figned for the venders, inftead of the Eaft-
India Company, whofe tea at the bottom
qf the harbour was not to be paid for.
They murmured ; whereupon the fmug-
glers voted, that they would not drink
any more tea, but burn on the common
wfet they had left. Some tea was fo
difpofed of, and the public- fpirited trans-
action blazoned in the newfpapers. But
this was not all : the fmugglers fent let-
ters to the leaders of mobs in the country,
enjoining them to wait upon the purchafers
of their tea, and compel them to burn it
as a proof of their patriotifm. Thofe ho-
nourable inftrudlions were obeyed, to the
real grievance of the holders of the tea,
« Let Mr. Hancock," faid they, « c and
€t the other merchant fmugglers, return
u us our money, and then you (ball be

C c 3 welcome

l 9 o APPENDIX.

u welcome to bum the tea, according to
€t their orders.'' But it fignified nothing to
difpute the equity of the requifition : the
cry was " Join or die! 1 ' nor would the
fons ofliberty be fatisfied with any-thing
kfs, than that each owner of tea fhould
with his own hands bring forth the fame,
and burn it ; and then fign a declaration,
that he had adted in this affair voluntarily,
and without any compulfion whatever j
and, moreover, pay the printer for in-
ferring it in the newfpaper.

An adfc of parliament for (hutting up
the port of Bofton was the immediate
confequence of the deftrudtion of the
Eaft- India Company's tea. It took place
in June, 1774 j and was confidered by
the Americans as defigned to reduce the
Boftonians f€ to the moft fervile and mean
" compliance ever attempted to be im-
" pofed on a free people $ and allowed to
M be infinitely more alarming and dange-
' c vous to their common liberties,than even

APPENDIX. 391

xl that hydra the Hump-aft." Due cane
had been taken to enfure its inforcement,
by fending General Gage as Governor to
Bcfton, where he arrived the preceding
month, with a number of troops. De-
termined, however, as the Parliament
feemed on compulfion, the colonifts were
equally bent on refiftance, and refolved-
upon a continental congrefs to dired: their
operations. In the mean time, contri-
butions for relieving the diftreffed people
in Bofton were voted by the colonies;
and Connecticut, through the officiouf-
nefs of its Governor, had the honour of
felting an example by railing the firft.
Every town which did not fubfcribe to
the fupport of the Boftonians was ftigma-
tized as a tory town. The firft that re-
fufed was loyal Hebron. There it was
voted, <c That, when the people of Bof-
ton fhould have paid for the teas that
were deftroyed, and behave like honeft
men, the town would give them fupport,

C c 4 if

392 APPENDIX.

if their port was not opened by the King;"
i — a vote, which, for a time, put a flop
to further colledions in the province.
The patriots imputed it to the influence
of the Rev, Mr. Peters (of whom I have
already fpoken) and his family. Many
were the attempts tried to ruin his cha-
racter, but unfuccefsfully : — he was too
well beloved and befriended in the town.

Falfhood and fedition had now for
fome time been every day increafing in
the province ; and men, who were fecret
propagators of traitorous opinions, pre-
tended in public to look up to the Confo-
ciation, the great focus of divine illumi-
nation, for direction. After much fad-
ing and praying, that holy leaven difco-
vered an admirable method of advancing
the bkffed work of proteftaqt liberty.
The doors of prifons were opened, and
prifoners became leaders of mobs com-
pofed of negroes, vagabonds, and thieves,
who had much to gain and nothing to

Jpfct

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APPENDIX. 393

lofe. The befom of deftrudtion firft
cleared away the creditors of the rene-
gadoes ; and then the Sandemanians, pref-
byterians, and epifcopalians. The un-
fortunate complained to the governor and
magiftrates of the outrages of thofe ban-
ditti, begging the protection of the laws.
The following was the beft anfwer re-
turned by the magiftrates : <c The pro-
cc ceedings of which you complain, are
•< like the ads of parliament : but be this
" as it may, we are only fervants of the
" people, in whom all power centers,
" and who have afiumed their natural
u right to judge and adt for themfelves."
The loyalifts armed to defend their pro-
perty againft thofe public thieves, but the
liberty boys were inftantly honoured with
the prefence of minifttrs, deacons, and
juftices, who caufed the grand jury to
indidt, as tories and rioters, thofe who pre-
fumcd to defend their houfes, and the
ccuits fined *md imprifoned them,

4 Thus

I

394 APPENDIX.

Thus horridly, by night and day,
were the mobs driven on by the hopes of
plunder, and the pleafures of domineering
over their fuperiors. — Having fent terror
and lamentation through their own colony,
the incarnate fiends paid a vifit to the
epifcopalians of Great Barrington, in the
weftern confines of Maffachufets-Bay,
whofe numbers exceeded that of the Sober
Diffenters. Their wrath chiefly fell upon
the Rev, Mr. Boftwick and David Inger-
fol, Efq. The former was lafhed with his
back to a tree, and almoft killed ; but,
on account of the fits of his wife and mo-
ther, and the fcreamings of the women
and children, the mob releafed him upon
his figning their league and covenant.
As to Mr. Ingerfol, after demoliftiing his
houfe and ftealing his goods, they brought
him almoft naked into Connecticut, upon
a horfe's bare-ridge, in fpite of the dif-
treflcs of his mother and fifter, which
were enough to melt the hear* of a favage,

though

Digitized by Google

APPENDIX. 395

thougji producing in the Sober Dijfenters
nothing but peals of laughter that rent the
fkies. Treatment fo extremely barbarous
did Mr. Ingerfol receive at their hands,
that the Sheriff of Litchfield county could
not withhold his interpofition, by which
means he was fet at liberty after fign-
ing the league and covenant. The grand
jury indidted fome of the leaders in this
riot ; but the court difmiffed them, upon
receiving information from Bofton, that
Ingerfol had feceded from the houfe cf
reprefentatives, and declared for the King
of England. — What caufed this irruption
of the mob into great Great Barrington
follows : — The laws of Maflachufets-bay
give each town a power to vote a tax for
the fupport of the miniftry, fchools, poor,
&c. The money, when collefted, is de-
pofited with the town-treafurer, who is
obliged to pay it according to the deter-
mination of the majority of voters. The
Sober DiJJenters, for many years, had

been

396 APPENDIX.

been the majority in Barrington, and had
annually voted about 200/. fterling for the
miniftry, above half of which was taken
from churchmen and the Lutherans,
whofe minifters could have no part of it,
becaufe, feparately, the greateft number
of voters were Sober Diffenters, who gave
the whole to their minifter. This was
deemed liberty and gofpel in New-Eng-
land j but mark the fequel. The Lu-
therans, and fome other feds, having
joined the church party, the church
gained . the majority. Next year, the
town voted the money as ufual for the
miniftry, &c. but the majority voted that
the treafurer ftiould pay the (hare appoint-
ed for the miniftry to the church clergy-
man, which was accordingly done:
whereupon the Sober Dijfenters cried out,
Tyranny and perfecution ! and applied to
Governor Hutchinfon, then the idol and
protedtor of the independents, for relief,
flis Excellency, ever willing to leave,

M Paul

by Google

APPENDIX. 397

♦

u Paul bound," found a method of re-
verfing the vote of the majority of the
freemen of Barrington in favour of the
churchmen, calling it u a vote obtained
by wrong and fraud/' The Governor,
by law or without law, appointed Major
Hawley, of Northampton, to be the mo-
derator of the town- meeting in Barring-
ton. The Major accordingly attended >
but, after exerting himfelf thiee days in be-
half of his opprefled brethren, was obliged
to declare that the epifcopalians had a
great majority of legal voters : he then
went home, leaving matters as he found
them. The Sober Dijfenters were always
fo poor in Barrington, that they could not
have fupported their minder without tax-
ing their neighbours ; and when they loft
that power, their minifter departed from
them, <c becaufe," as he faid, " the Lord
« c had called him to Rhode-IQand." To
overthrow the majority of the church,
and to eftablifh the American Vine upon

398 APPENDIX

its old foundation, was the main inten-
tion of the Sober Dijenters of Connedti-
cut in vifiting Great Barrington at this
time.

The warlike preparations throughout
the colonies, and the intelligence obtained
from certain credible refugees of a fecret
defign formed in Connecticut and Mafia-
chufets-bay to attack the royal army, in-
duced General Gage to make fome forti-
fications upon Bofton-Neck, for their fe-
curity. Thefe of courfe gave offence ;
but much more the excurfion of a body
of the troops on the 19th of April, 1775,
to deftroy a magazine of ftores at Con-
cord, and the lkirmiflies which enfued.
In a letter of the 28th of April, from Mr
Trumbull, the Governor of Connecticut,
to General Gage, after fpeaking of the
" very jufl and general alarm" given the
c< good people" of that province by his
arrival at Bofton with troops, and fubfe*
quent fortifications, he tells the General,

ihat

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APPENDIX. 399

that eC the late hoftile and fecret inroads
u of fome of the troops under his com-
, " mand into the heart of the country,
<c and the violences they had committed,
" had driven them almoft into a ftate of
u defperation." Certain it is, that the
populace were then fo maddened, by falfe
reprefentations and aggravations of events
unfortunate and lamentable enough in
themfelyes, as to be quite ripe for the
open rebellion the Governor and Aflembly
were on the point of commencing, though
they had the effrontery to remonftrate
againft the defenfive proceedings of the
General, in order to conceal their treach-
ery. Further on, in the fame letter, Mr.
Trumbull writes thus : cc The people of
" this colony, you may rely upon it, ab-
" hor the idea of taking arms againft the
€t troops of their fovereign, and dread no-
<ff thing fo much as the horrors of civil
u war; but, at the fame time, we beg
*• leave to affure your Excellency, that,

400 APPENDIX,

" as they apprehend themfelvesjuftified by
€t the principle of felf-defence, fo they
<c are mod firmly refolved to defend their
« f rights and privileges to the laft ex-
" tremity ; nor will they be reftrained
" from giving aid to their brethren , if any
u unjuftifiable attack is made upon them.

" Is there no way to* prevent this

" unhappy difputc from coming to ex-
" tremities ? Is there no alternative
" but abfolute fubmiffion, or the defola-
** tions of war ? By that humanity which
€i conftitutes fo amiable a part of your
" charadter ; for the honour of our fo-
ft vereign, and by the glory of the Bri-
" tifli empire, we intreat you to prevent
* c it, if it be poflible. Surely, it is to be
tc hoped, that the temperate wifdom of
" the empire might, even yet, find ex-
" pedients to reftore peace, that fo all
" parts of the empire may enjoy their par-
u ticular rights, honours, and immunities.
" Certainly, this is an event moft devout-

ed by Goog

APPENDIX. 401

" ly to be wi£hed for ; and will it not be
"/confident with your duty to fufpend
rc the operations of war on your part, and
« c enable us on ours to quiet the minds of
c< the people, at leaft, till the refult of
" fome further deliberations may be
f< known ?" &c. &c.

Frorti this letter, written as it was by
the Governor of a province, at the defire
of its General Affembly, the people of
England may learn to think of American
as they do of French fincerity. It is al-
moft paft credit, that, amidft the earneft
proteftations it contains of a peaceable
difpofition in Mr. Trumbull and the reft
of his coadjutors in the government of
Conne&icut, they were meditating, and
actually taking meafures for the capture
of certain of the King's forts, and the de-
ftfudtion of General Gage and his whole
army, inftead of quieting the minds of the
people! Yet fuch was the fad:. They
bad commiffioned Motte and Phelps to

D d draught

4 02 APPEND! X.

draught men from the militia, if volun-
teers fliould not readily appear, for a fc-
cret expedition, which proved to be againft
Ticonderago and Crown-Point; and the
treafurer of the colony, by order of the
Governor and Council, had paid 1 500/. to
bear their expences. Nay, even before
the date of the above amicable epiftle,
Motte and Phelps had left Hertford on
that treafonable undertaking, in which
they were joined on the way by Colonels
Allen and Eafton. Nor was this the only
infidious enterprize they had to cover.
The u good people" throughout the pro-
vince, to the number of near 20,000,
were fecretly arming themfelves, and
filing off, to avoid fufpicion, in fmall
parties of ten or a dozen, to meet " their
brethren," the Maflachufets ; not, how-
ever, with the view of " giving aid,"
" fliould any unjuftifiable attack be made
" upon them," but to surprize Bofton
by ftorm. In addition to the Go-
vernor's

APPENDIX. 403

vernor's letter, the mock-peace-makers
the General Affembly had deputed Dr.
Samuel Johnfon, fori of the Rev. Dr.
Johnfon, fpoken of in this work, and
Oliver Wolcot, Efq. both of the Council,
which had ordered the 1500/. for the ad-
venturers to Ticonderago, to wait upon
General Gage, the more effedtually to
amufe and deceive him into confidence and
inadtion. But happily, at a critical time,
juft before the intended ftorm and {laugh-
ter at Bofton, the news of the fuccefs of
the fecret expedition reached that town,
which fully difcovered the true charadter
and bufinefs of the two Connecticut am-
baffadors, and rendered it neceflary for
them, fans ceremonie, to retire from Bof-
ton, and for General Gage, immediately,
to render the fortifications at the Neck
impregnable.

Thus did Conne&icut, from its hot-
bed of fanaticifm and fedition, produce
the firft indubitable overt-adt of high-trea.

D d 2 fon

4 o 4 APPENDIX.

» »

fon in the prefent rebellion, by actually
levying war, and taking, vi et arm's, the
King's forts and ftores; and, moft pro-
bably, its obftinacy will render this the
laft of all the revolted ftates to acknow-
ledge the fupremacy of Parliament.

The Sober Dijfenters, chagrined at be-
ing difappointed in their hoftile projedt
againft Bofton, readily embraced the
opportunities which offered of wreaking
their vengeance upon New-York. At the
inftance of the rebel party there, who found
themfelves too weak to efFeft their pur-
pofe of fubverting the conftitution of the
province, a large body immediately ported
to their afliftance, delivered " their bre-
thren" from the flavery of regal govern-
ment, and inverted them with the liberty
of doing that which was fit in their own
eyes, under the democratic adminiftration
of the immaculate Livingfton's, Morris,
Schyler, &c. &c. As feemed neceflary to
the furtherance of their pacific views,

frequent

APPENDIX. 405

frequent irruptions were made afterwards,
in which many loyalifts were difarmed
and plundered, and fome of them taken
prifoners. Among thefe laft were the
Rev. Dr. Seabury and the Mayor of New-
York. Governor Tryon happily efcaped
their fury; as alfo did, very narrowly,
the Rev. Miles Cooper, LL. D. who was
leaving his houfe through a back window,
when a party of ruffians burft into his
chamber, and thruft their bayonets into
the bed he had juft quitted. Mr. Riving-
ton, whofe cafe has been publiftied, was
one of the fufFerers by lofs of property.
Thofe " good people," who u dreaded no-
thing fo much as the horrors of civil war,"
with the reverfe of reluftance plundered
his houfe of all his printing materials and
furniture ; and, having fcrambled for the
latter, carried the types to Newhaven,
where they have fince been employed in
the fervice of Congrefs. The King's
ftatue, however, maintained its ground

Dd 3 till

1

4 o6 APPENDIX.

till after Mr. Wafliington with the con-
tinental army had taken pofleffion of the
city ; when it was indidted of high treafon
againft the dominions of America, found
guilty, and received a quaint fentence of
this kind, viz. That it fliould undergo the
aft of decollation *, and, inafmuch as it
had no bowels, its legs Jhould be broken $
that the leacj of it fliould be run into bul-
lets, for the deftrudtion of the Englifli
bloody-backs, and the refufe be caft in-
to the fea. The fentence was immedi-
ately carried into execution, amidft fuch
huzza's and vociferations of Praife ye the
Lord ! that it brought to mind the fongs
at the annual feaft of the calves-head club
on the 30th of January, in derifion of the
royal martyr. This infult upon Majefty
Mr. Wafhington thought proper thus to
notice in his general orders of 'the next
day. He was forry, he faid, that his
foldiers fliould in a riotous manner pull
down the ftatue of the King of Great-
Britain j

Digitized by G

APPENDIX. 407

Britain ; yet he could not but commend
their zeal for defacing every monument
of Britifh tyranny.

It has been a matter of furprize to fome
politicians, that the people of Conne£H-
cut, who had no real grievance to com-
plain of, fhould take fo early and decided
a part againft the fovereignty of Britain,
and exert themfelves fo exemplary in fa-
vour of the Boftonian tea-merchants, efpe-
cially when, if the Eaft-India Company
had been permitted to import that com-
modity, they would have been fupplied
with it at half the price it ufually coft
them : but the wonder will inftantly va-
nifh, if it be conlidered, that this pro-
vince was the feat of the annual conven-
tion of delegates from all the affociations
of proteftant diflenters throughout Ame-
rica, which was firft holden in 1764, as I
have related. Here, their meetings were
continued, year after year, without the
leaft apprehenfion of difturbance from a

D d 4 King's

\

4o3 APPENDIX.

King's Governor ; and here the arcana
of the American vine, together with the
folemn league and covenant, were depo-
fited. It is not to be fuppofed but that
the political principles of this fynod would
gradually become the principles of the
Sober Dijfenters in general ; and the pro-
ceedings of the latter, when adtion was re-
quired, afford a clear proof both of the na-
ture of thofe principles, and the enthufiafm
with which they had been adopted,
—Perhaps, no people in the world have
been fo much deceived as the commonalty
of the Englifli colonies in America. They
were confcious of their happinefs under

*

the prote&ion of Great- Britain, and wiflied
for no change in government. Ten years
ago the great majority would fooner have
run their heads againft the burning moun-
tains, than have lifted up a finger with
a view to a political feparation from
Great-Britain ; and yet they have been
prevailed upon, by the inflammatory ef-

fufions

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APPENDIX, 409

fufions of the clergy, merchants, and
lawyers, to commit a thoufand mad ex-
cefles, run into open rebellion, and im-
brue their hands in civil blood, under
the idea of oppofing injury, oppreflion,
and flavery, though in reality to pro-
mote what has long been the grand aim
of their inftigators — Independence.

Having been a witnefs of the effeds of
the conventions of Diffenters in New-
England, particularly that I have juft
been fpeaking of as taking place at New-
haven in 1 764, which was annually conti-
nued, without the lead animadverfion from
any perfon in authority in Great-Britain,
notwithftanding the intent of it was wholly
prejudicial to her interefts; I was the
more mortified with the implied cenfure
of a great man in very high office upon a
meeting of the epifcopal clergy, in his
anfwer to an addrefs they took the liberty
to prefent to him, in the vain hope of its
being produdtive of fome benefit to the

church

4 io APPENDIX.

church in America, but, alas ! whofc
only fruit was a laconic letter to the fol-
lowing purport : " I have been ho- j

noured with your addrefs, and thank you
for it but am not acquainted by what
authority you hold your convention."—
The hauteur in this anfwer to fuch an af- j
fembly on fuch an occafion, however con-
gruous with the pride and formality of of-
fice, was utterly repugnant to the didates
of policy. Britain loft by it half her friends
in New-England ; and I will prefume to
fay, that Britain will lofe all her friends in
that country, whenever it (hall be difco-
vered that the fentiments of the Englifli
Parliament coincide, in that refpedt, witH
the fentiments of the writer.

Whilft Mr. Wafhington remained in
poffeffion of New - York, Connedticut
ferved as a prifon for thofe perfons who
had the misfortune to fall under his fufpi-
cion as difaffe&ed to the caufe of freedom.
He was himfelf, however, at length j

obliged

Digitized by Google

APPENDIX. 411

obliged to evacuate it, by General How,
to the great relief of fuch loyalifts as re-
mained.

In April 1777, fome magazines having
been formed by the Americans at Dan-
bury and Ridgefield, Major-General Tryon
was fent with 1800 men to carry off or
deftroy them. They reached the places
of their deftination with little oppofition ;
but the whole force of the country being
collected to obftrudt his return, the Gene-
ral was obliged to fet the (lores on fire, by
which means thofe towns were unavoid-
ably burnt. David Woofter, the rebel
General, Benedict Arnold's old acquain-
tance and mobbing confederate, received
a fatal ball through his bladder, as he was
harrafling the rear of the royal troops j of
which, after being carried 40 miles to
Newhaven, he died, and was there bu-
ried by the fide of the grave of David

■ ■

Dixwell, one of the Judges of Charles
the Martyr.

In

4 i2 APPENDIX.

In the fummer of 1779, the fufferings
of the loyalifts in Connecticut becoming
too intolerable for longer endurance, Ge-
neral Sir Henry Clinton determined to
attempt their relief. Accordingly, he de-
tached a large party, under the command
of General Tryon, which landed at New-
haven, after being oppofed by a number
of rebels under the command of the Rev.
Naphthali Dagget, the prefident of Yale
College, who, notwithftanding the mo-
deration which I have faid marked his ge-
neral charafter, was enthufiaftic enough
to hazard his life on this occafion. He
loft it, and had the honour of being bu-
ried on Sodom Hill, near the grave of
Deacon Potter, without a coffin. Having
accomplifhed their purpofe here, the
troops failed to Fairfield, which town
they were neceffitated,by the oppofition of
the rebels, to fet fire to, before the loyalifts
could be releafed from prifon. General
Tryon then repaired to Norwalk, where

having

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APPENDIX. 413

having by proclamation enjoined the in-
habitants to keep within their houfes, he
ordered centinels to be ftationed at every
door, to prevent diforders ; a tendernefs,
however, they infulted, by firing upon
the very men who were thus appointed
to guard them. The confequence was,
deftru&ion to themfelves and the whole
town, which was laid in afhes.

I have now mentioned the principal
proceedings by which the people of Con-
necticut have diftinguiflied themfelves in
bringing on and fupporting the rebellion
of America j and that, I apprehend, in a
manner fufficiently particular to fhew
their violence, and to anfwer my purpofe
of giving the reader an idea of the prefent
diftrafted, maimed ftate of the province,
which many molt refpedtable charac-
ters have been obliged to abandon, at
the total lofs of their, property, to fave
their lives. It is very obfervable, that
a peculiar, charadteriftic refolution ap-
pears

414 APPENDIX.

pears to poffefs the people of Connecti-
cut. As, on one hand, rebellion has eredted
her creft in that province with more
infolence and vigour than in the reft;
fo, on the other, loyalty has there exhi-
bited proofs of zeal, attachment, perfe-
verance and fortitude, far beyond exam-
ple elfewhere to be found in America.
In particular, the epifcopal clergy have
acquired immortal honour by their fteady
adherence to their oaths, and firmnefs
under the " aflaults of their enemies ; "
not a man amongft them all, in this fiery
trial, having diflionoured either the King
or church of England by apoftacy. The
fufferings of fome of them I cannot wholly
pafs over in filence.

A mong the greateft enemies to the caufe
of the Sober Dijfenters, and among the
greateft friends to that of the church of
England, the Rev. Mr. Peters ftood con-
fpicuous. I have already reprefented him
as fo well (hielded by the friendfhip and

efteem

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APPENDIX. 415

efteena of the inhabitants of Hebron, where
he refided, as to be proof againft the
common weapons of fanaticifm and ma-
lice. The Governor and Council, there-
fore„entered the lifts, and, anxious at all
events to get rid of fo formidable a foe, ac-
cufed him of being a fpy of Lord North's
and the Bifliops. This allegation was
publiflied by the Governor's order, in
every republican pulpit in the colony, on
Sunday Auguft 14, 1774, which induced
a mob of Patriots from Windham county
to arm and furround his houfe the fame
night, in the mod tumultuous manner or-
dering the gates and doors to be opened.
Mr. Peters, from his window, afked if
they had a warrant from a magiftrate to
enter his houfe. They replied, " We
* c have Joice's warrant, which Charles
" the traitor fubmitted to, and is fufficient
u for you." Peters told them he had but
one life to lofe, and he would lofe it in
defence of his houfe and property. Fi-
nally,

I

'-

416 APPENDIX*

< nally, after fome farther altercation, J!
was agreed that a committee from the
mob fhould fearch the houfe, and read all
papers belonging to Mr. Peters. A con**
mittee was accordingly nominated, who,
after infpedling his papers as much as
they pleafed, reported, " that they were
fatisfied Mr. Peters was not guilty of any
crime laid to his charge."

On Sunday the 4th of September, the
country was alarmed by a letter from
Colonel Putnam, declaring 99 that Admiral
Graves had burnt Bofton, and that Ge-
neral Gage was murdering old and young,"
The Governor of Conne&icut took the
liberty to add to Mr. Putnam's letter,
" except churchmen and the addreflers of
Governor Hutchinfon." The fame day
40,000 men began their march from Con*
l nedticut to Bofton, and returned the next,
having heard that there was no truth in
Putnam's reports. Dr. Bellamy, thanked
God for this falfe alarm, as he had there-
by

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APPENDIX. 417

by pointed out " the inhabitants of Meroz,
" who went not to the help of the Lord
" againft the mighty." No churchmen,
prefoyterians, or Sandemanians, were a-
mong the 40,000 infurgents; and that was
judged to be fuffieient proof of their dif-
affe&ion to the liberties of America. The
Governor feized this opportunity to fet
the mobs again, with redoubled fury,
upon the Rev, Mr. Peters, and the
loyalifts, whom they then called Peterites ;
and the intoxicated ruffians fpared neither
their houfes, goods, nor perfons. Some
had their bowels crouded out of their
bodies; others were covered with filth,
and marked with the fign of the crofs by
a mop filled with excrements, in token
of their loyalty to a king who defigned
to crucify all the good people of America.
Even women were hung by the heels,
tarred, and feathered. Mr. Peters, with
his gown and cloaths torn off, was treated
in the moft infulting manner : his mother,

E e daughter,

4 i8 APPENDI X.

daughter, two brothers, and fervants; were
wounded 5 one of his brothers fo badly,
that he died foon after. Mr. Peters was
then obliged to abfcond and fly to the
royal army in Bofton, from whence h&
went to England, by which means he has
hitherto preferved his life, though not his
property, from the rapacious and bloody
hands of his countrymen.— The Rev.
Meffieurs Mansfield and Viets were caft
into jail, and afterwards tried for high
treafon againft America. Their real of-
fence was charitably giving viftuals affd
blankets to loyalifts flying from the rage
of drunken mobs. They were not in-
deed convidtcd in fo high a degree as the
court intended ; but were fined and im-
prlfoncd, to the ruin of themfelves and fe-
milies.— The Rev. Meffieurs Graves,
Scovil, Dibblee, Nichols, Learning, Beach,
and divers Others, were cruelly dragged
through mire and dirt. In fliort, all the
ckrgy of the church were infamoufly

iafulted,

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APPENDIX. 419

infelted, abitfed, and obliged to feek rs-
ijige in the mountains, till the popular
pfirenzy was fomewhat abated.

In July, 1776, the congrefs having de-
clared the independency of America, $uad
ordered the commonwealth to be prayed for
inftead of the King and royal family, all
the loyal epifcopal churches north of the
Delaware were fhut up, except thofe im-
mediately tinder the protection of the
Britifh army, and one at Newtown,
Connecticut, of which laft the Rev.
Mr. John Beach was the redtor, whofc
grey hares, adorned with loyal and chri-
ftian virtues, overcame even the madnefs
of the Sober Diffenters. This faithful
difciple difregarded the congreffional
mandate, and praying for the King as
ufual, they polled him out of his defk,
put a rope about his neck, and drew him
3Lcrofs,Ofootonqc river, at the tail of a
boat, to cool his loyal zeal, as they called
}l i after which, (he old Confejfor was per-

E e 2 mitted

420 APPENDIX.

mitted to depart, though not without a
prohibition to ' pray longer for the King-
But his loyal zeal was infuperable. He
went to church, and prayed again for the
King 5 upon which the Sober Dijj'enters
again feized him, and refolved upon cut-
ting out his tongue ; when the heroic ve-
teran faid, " If my blood muft be flied,
u let it not be done in the houfe of God."
The pious mob then dragged him out
of the church, laid his neck on a block,
-and fwore they would* cut off his head;
and infolently crying out, <c Now, you
c< old 'Devil!' fay your laft prayer," he
prayed thus, iS Godblefs King George, and
"forgive all bis and my enemies !** At this
unexpected and exalted difplay of chri-
' ftian patience and charity, the mob fo far
relented as to difcharge and never moleft
him afterwards for adhering to the liturgy
of the church of England and his ordina-
tion oath ; but they relaxed not in their
Severities towards the other clergymen,

becaufe,

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APPENDIX* 421

becaufe, they faid, younger confcienccs
arc more flexible. ,
• I cannot conclude* this , work without
remarking, what a contrail to the epifco-
pal clergy of Connedicut, and efpecially
to this illuftrious example of the venerable
Beach, is afforded by too many of thofe in
the provinces fouth of Delaware. Here,
whilft they fuffered every thing but death
for tenacioufly adhering to their ordina-
tion oaths ; there, fome of them, of more
enlarged confciences, were not a(hamed
to commit perjury in prayer, and re-
bellion in preaching,— though, be it re-
membered, their expreflions were de-
cent, when compared with thofe of the
fanatics in New-England. The follow-
ing prayer, ufed by them before Congrefs,
after the declaration of independence,
feems to me too likely to gratify the
curiofity of my readers to be omitted.
It brought the clergymen into difgrace
merely by its moderation •

E e 3 << O LORD,

liz APPENDIX.

«« O LORD, oiir heavenly father, King
M of Kings, and Lord of Ldrds, whbdoft
" from thy throne behold all the dwellers
«* upon earth, arid reigrieft, with power
'* fupreriie and uncontrouled, bVer all
" kingdoms, empires, and governments j
€t look down in mercy, we befeech thee, •
ft upon thefe bur American ftatfcs, who
" have fled to thee from the rod of the
€t oppreffor, and thrown thebifelves Upbn
" thy grdcious protection, defiring tenet-
"forth to be dependent only upon thee.

T^o thee have they appealed for the
4< righteoufnefs of their caufe ; to thee do
u they now look up for that countenance
u and fupport, which thou alone canft
" give. Take them, therefore, heavenly
u Father, under thy nurturing care ; gWe
" them wifdom In council, valcmr in the
" field. Defeat the malicious dejfgns of
€i our cruel adverfaries ; convince them
*' of the unrlghteoufntfs of their ciufe;
"and, if they ftill perfift in their fan-

<c guinary

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APPENDIX. 4*i

** guinary purpofes, O let the voice of thy
«• unerring juftice, founding in their hearts,
« c conftrain them to drop the weapons of
*' war from their enerved hands in the
u day of battle. Be thou prefent, O
" God of wifdom, and diredl the coun-
" cils of this honourable ajfembly. Enable
u them tQ fettle things upon the beft and
t€ fureft foundation ; that the fcenes of
" blood may be fpeedily clofed j that or-
u der, harmony, and peace, may effedt-
" ually be reflored, and truth and juftice,
c< religion and piety, prevail and flourifh
" amongft thy people. Preferve the health
*' of their bodies, and the vigour of their
u minds ; (hower down upon them, and
cc the millions they reprefent> fuch tem-
u poral bleffings as thou feeft expedient
" for them in this world, and crown them
•« with everlafting glory in the world to
u come. All this we afk, in the name
" and through the merits of Jefus Chrift,
€t thy Son, our Saviour. Amen."

E e 4 I will

424 APPENDIX.

I will not deny that rebels are to be
found among the epifcopal clergy north
of the Delaware; but they amount to five
only, and not one of them belongs to the
colony of Connecticut.

P. S. The Rev. Mr. Nathaniel Hooker,
mentioned in p. 167, as refiding at
Hertford, is now dead.

<

FINIS.

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INDEX.

A.

A Lien, Ethan, origin of
his fame uiiL Joins
in the fecret expedition
a gain ft Ticonderago 402
Amufements 320
Argal, Sir Samuel, compels
the Dutch at Manhat-
tan to fuhmit 2
Arran, Earl of, claims part

of Connecticut 16,
Afhford 1 57.

Aflembly , General, cho-
fen by the people 79 >
times of meeting ib.
Their laws not to be re-
pealed but by their own
authority 8^ Refolve to
fettle their lands on Suf-
quehanna river Qi. Hold
a fpecial meeting to con-
lider of the ftamp-a&
342 ; vote that the Go-
vernor do not take the
oath required by it ; and
treat the populace on its
repeal 354. Conduct of,
in regard to Colonel
Street Hall and the re-
volters 359, j6o.

B.

Bays, the two principal
132«

Beach, the Rev. Mr. joins-
the church of England
zzi ; ignominioufly and
mod ci uelly treated 418,
419 ; his heroitm 420.

Bear, a (he- one and cubs
killed by General Put-
nam 160.

Bellamy, the Rev. Dr.
fome account of 182.
Thanks God for General
Putnam's falfe alarm 416.

Birds 2j_£.

Bilhop of London's au-
thority derided by an
American judge 178.

Bifhops, their negleclful
eondufr. in regard to
America 230. animad-
verfions upon, &c. 2jj:
— 236. notices concern-
ing 71, 228* 2j_t, 293,

33 2 > 2^i» HA* 379»
380.

B lax ton, the, Rev. Mr.
particulars relating to,
5_2 note
Blue Laws, fpecimen of 63
Bolton 170
Bofton, peninfula of, ob-
tained and occupied by
the Rev. Mr. Blast on £2
note. Town of, founded
JL Its port (hut up 390.

Attack

I

426 I N D

Attack meditated againft
it 402. Neck fortified by
Gen. Gage 398, 403.

Boftwick, the Rev. Mr.
attacked by the mob 394

Boundaries, difputes con-
cerning 97' — ioz ; of
Connecticut as at pre fen t
allowed 124.

Braioford 209.

Bribery, difallowed $21.

Briton, Mr. humorous
ftory concerning him and
a deacon *» daughter 306

Brown, the Rev. Mr.
declares for the church
of England 220.

Browirjts fet fail for Ame-
rica, and found New Fly-
mouth 7.

Eulkley, tne Rev. John,
fome account of 172, 173
■ ■ the Rev. Peter,
character of 172, 173

Bull- fly defcribed 259.

Bundling, lingular cuttom
of, jaUified 325—334.

Byles, Dr. Mather, dif-
ingenuous treatment of

Canaan LSi
Can fez, American Indians,
enjoy liberty in perfection

Canterbury l&z
Caterpillars ravage the bor-
ders, of Conne&icut river

e x.

Chandler, the Rev. Thomas
Bradbury, where born

Charter, petitioned for pri-
vately 24_» obtained 75,
claim founded upon, and
prevarications concerning
it 29, 30. powers con-
ferred by rg, ftrengthens
notions ofxhdependeDce
84* formally furrendered
by the colony to Sir Ed-
mund Andros gfL re-
gained by a mob, hid in a
tree, and re-aflumed 89.
violated by Geo. 11. io;.

Chatham 169.

Church of Eugtand, the firft
erected in Connecticut
214. profenors of the,
amount of in 1770, 223.
reafon of their great in-
creafe 220. their zeal
227. meafures adverfe to

Clergy, epifcopal, in Con.
nectieut, morality of 230.
one punUhed for not ob-
serving the Sabbath
agreeable to notions of
Sober Diflenteri 305^ ac-
cufed of writing falfc-
hoods 381. acquire im-
mortal honour by ad-
hering to their ordination -
oaths 414. none rebel-
lious 424. impolitic an-
fwer to an addrefs §>re-
fented by them to a great

mam

I N D E X.

4=7

man in Mgh office 4*0.
-—immoral, snti-epifoo-
pal, and rebellious con-
duel of fome of theht
in the fouthern provinces
*J8, 2jl, in, iMi
421.

Colcheftfjr 1*2.

Colden, — , Lieutenant-Go-
vernor of New -York,
grants lands in Verd-
mont 108.

Coldnefs of the winter in
Connecticut accounted for

Comic Liturgy, fccted in
Connecticut on occafion
of the ftamp-act 340.

Company for propagating
the Gofpel in New Eng-
land, charter obtained
for the, and abufe of it

53> iii QOte -
Commerce of Connecticut

Connecticote, his kingdom
163, his conduct towards
the fettlers £i* his death

Connecticut, its lati-
tude and longitude 236.
whence named 2* three
parties of Englifh adven-
turers arrive in 5. right
to the foil of, considered
21 — 31. civil and reli-
gious eftablilhments and
proceedings of the firft
Bngtilh ftttlers 32—60.

forms a confederacy with
New Plymouth and Maf-
fachuiets-Bay 72. obtains
a charter of incorpora-
tion 75. divided Into
counties, townihips, &c.
79 : So, Iketch of its
religious - political free
fyftem fince the charter

93 — 9& ' tne terri-

tory of, granted to the
Duke of York 77. its
confequent lofs ofterri-
tory £8, 22* loo. dimen-
fions of, as at prefent al-
lowed, 124. defcription
of, at large, 125—335.
treatment Engfilh travel-
lers meet with there from
landlords 120. proceed-
ings of in regard to the
ftamp-act 335 — 366; to
the tea act 385^-3905 to
that for (hutting the port
of Boffon 391, 392, &c.
commits the firlt overt-
act of high treafon 403,
abandoned by many of its
molt refpectable inhabi-
tants 413,

Connecticut river, defcrip-
tion of, 12$. aftonifliing
narrow in it 128.

Contingencies, extraordina-
ry allowance for 278 : of
what fort fome 317.

Convention, grand conti-
nental, of diffenting mi-
niftexs, at New haven,

notices

4iS I N D

notices concerning 208,

• 236, 402, 409.

Cooper, the Rev. Miles,
LL.D. narrowly efcapes
the fury of the mob at
New- York 405.

Cornwall lUr*

Cotton, the Rev. Mr. no-
tices relating to 40, note
168.

Coventry t c6.

Council of Plymouth, their
grant, 2, *l.

Courts inllituted in Con-
necticut 8oj Cruelty
of the eccleiiaftical in

. New- England 148.

Cuba, defcription of, an
animal fo called, and ex-
traordinary qualities of
male and female 250.

Curfette, Mrs. furpriz-
ing difcovery of her
will 194.

Cuftoms of the people 302 :
borrowed of the Indians

3*3> HAi 327»
Cutkr, the Rev. Dr. de-
clares for the church of
England 220*

D.

Daggct, the Rev. Mr.

Naphthali, character of

2c8 ; killed 412.
Danbury 222 : burnt 41 1.
Darby 212.

Davenport, the Rev. John,
arrives at New haven. io,

E x;

■„ his church-fyftem 40,

Dead, buried* with their
; feet to the weft 1 40. •

Dibblee, the Rev. Mr.
cruelly treated 418.

Dixwell, buried at New-
haven 21 note.

Douglas, Dr. fbme account
of 100.

Durham 212.

Dutch get footing on Ma-
nahattan ifland, but are
compelled to fubmit by
Argal 2_. revolt 6,

Dyer, Mr. takes an active
part in . regard to the
tfamp - ad 3-8,

E.

Ea ft- Harden 169.
Eaft-WindforTSee Wind-
for.

Eaton, Mr. Theophilus,

arrives at Newhaven to,
. chofen governor 40. His

true character pointed

out 189.
Election, management of,

in Connecticut 322.
Elliot, the Rev. Mr. feme

mention of, 150.
Endfield 169.

Expenditure of Connecticut
Exports of Connecticut z6h±
F.

Fairfield 213, burnt 412.

Far-

i rr d e x.

Farmington 17$.

Fenwick, George, cfq. firft
arrives at $ayhrook 9 . bis
and aflbciatcs right to. fet-
tle in Connecticut difcufT-
ed,and difproved 11 — 18.
difpofes of.his property
in America, and returns
to England 46.

Fitch, Governor, his con-
duct on occasion of the
flamp-aft iiii
357-

^Fim of Connecticut z&z*
.Franklin, . Dr. nonces con-
cerning 338, 340, 386.
Frogs, an qmazing multi-
tude, humorous (lory of

G.

Gage, Genera], arrives at
Bolton ^oj ; fortifies Bof-
ton Neck 398, 403; in
imminent danger or be-
ing furprized in Eofton

' 402.

Gates, &r Thomas, and
alTociates, accountof their
patent 1

Gavelkind, cuftom of, pre-
vails in Connecticut 319.

General Aflembly, See Af-
fembly.

General Lift, account and
fpecimen of 226

Gibbs, the Rev. Mr. in-
humaa treatment of,

177-

4*9

Glaftonbury 169.

Glover, Mr. his wickednefa

in concealing Mrs. Cur-

fette's will 194.
Glow T bug, defcribed 259,
Golhen iSz^

Government, fome account
of 278, 282. the clergy,
merchants, and lawyers,

. the three grand parties in
the ftate 283.

Governments, bad policy
of molt 366.

Graves, the Rev. Mr. cruel
treatment of 418.

Great Barrington, why ob-
noxious to the mob 391;.

Greenfmith, Mrs. the far It
perfon executed as a
witch in America 164.

Greenwich 213.

Grenville, George, efq.
mobbed, hung, and burnt
in effigy 344, 34s, note.

Grigfon, Mr. very extra-
ordinary concealment of
his will 189.

Groton 138.

Guildford defcribed 209.
H.

Haddam 169.

Hall, Colonel Street, cbo-
fen commander of a mob
of revohers agaioft the
General Affembly, his
conduct, and extraordi-
nary fpeech 357-— - 362.

Hamilton, Marquis of, bis

title

43» INI

title to a part of Con-
necticut proved 14 — ig.
Hancock, John, efq. hit
difhonourable conduct in
regard to Mrs. Curfctte't
will 194, 195.
Hancock, Mr. his oppofi-
tion to the tea-act, and
artifice in difpoling of
his own itock 387 — 390.
Hartland 183.
Harvey, Mr. Joel, receives
a premium from the So-
ciety of Arts in London
183.

Harrifon, Peter, Efq. his
fpirited and honourable
conduct in difcovering
Mr. Griffon's will 191.
Harrifon, his claim to land

in Connecticut 24.
« , Major-Gen. Tho-

mas, hanged at Charing-
Crofs 17a.
Haynes, Mr. John, fettles
at Hertford g, voted go-
vernor jc*
Hebron, defcription of 170.
refwfes to contribute to
the relief of the Bofto-
nians, on the (hutting up
their port 301 .
Herrington 17 c.
Hertford, firit fetrlement
there by the Engliih, 9 ;
by what authority 21.
Defcription of 163. Cu-
riofities in it 166.
Hooker, the Rev. Thomas,
fettles at Hertford,

B X*

•

His motive for quitting
Maffachufets - Bay 19.
church - fyftem 3c. his
tomb reverenced 67. .

, the Rev. Natha-
niel, mentioned 67, 424.

tfowling Wildernefs^ Con-
necticut improperly fo
called in 1636, 1 13.

Huet, the Rev. Mr. fomc
mention of 170.

Humble-bee, description of

Humility, a bird fo called,
defer ibed 256*

1.

Imports 267.

Independence, idea of,
flrengthened by charter
84. fymptoms of, mani-
fested by the colonics
33c. not the wi(h of the
common people 408, but
of their infti gators, the
clergy, merchants, and
lawyers 377, 409. formal-
ly declared by Congreis

4'9-

Indians, their mode of
counting, 28 note. Num-
ber of them killed in
Hifpaniola, Porto Rico,
South-America, and in
Connecticut and Maifa-
chufets-Bay 112 ; in the
Whole of North- America
and Wed-India iflands
li i-Thtir averlion to the
protellant religion 294.

Inger-

I N D E X„

Iogerfol, David, efq. bar*
baroufly waned 394.

Ingerfd!, Jared, etq. m(b«
bed, and forced to*eiign
his poft of (Ump-rnafter
343 .; hung and burnt in
effigy 34c, note.

Inhabitants of Connecticut
263. Their hofpitality
towards Grangers ■302.
Of the men £2j ; of the
women 324.

In feels 259.

johnfon, Dr. Samuel, cha-
racter of 2_ul Declares
for the church of Eng-
land a 20. Treacherous
embaffy of bis fon 403.

Jolhua, a pretended fachem

K.

Kent 182*
Killingfley ic8.
Killiqgfworth i<?o.
King's fiatue, atNew-Yotk,
deitroyed 406.

L.

Laws, Blue, fpecknen <*£
63. other laws 82, 294.

La w-fuit amazing number
of 282. 298, 299. re-
markable nature of fome
of Lhem 299.

Latitude and longitude of
Connecticut 236.

Learning, the Rev. Mr,
cruelly treated 418.

Lebanon 156.

Litchfield, defcribed 179.
Little J fane, a nick name
given to the Americans

Lyme 141.

M.

Manners of the people 202.
Mansfield, the Rev. Mr.

tried for high treafoa

418.

Mansfield town 157.

Manufactures of Connecti-
cut 265.

Mafon, his claim to land

in Connecticut 24.
Maffachufets-Bny, fettled by

puritans JL Lofes part of

its territory 104.
Merret, Mr. His Angular

treatment on a charge of

inceft 146.
Middleton, defcribed 169.
Mil ford 209.

Mill, curious, Invented by
Mr. Joel Harvey 183.

Minifter, Sober- diflenting,
manner of fettling and
dil miffing 313.

Mood us, a pretended fa-
chem 22_.

Moore, Sir Henry, begins
toregrant Verdmom 107.

Motie, treacheroufly ,fent
againft Ticonderago and
Crown Point 402.

Moaley, the Rev. Mr. fined
for marrying a couple
of his own parifliioners
178.

-

43 2

INDEX.

the Gofpel expoled 292,
notices concerning,

N.

Neal, Rev* Mr. his re pre -

fentation about Sunk-
fquaw, Uncas, Jofhua,
Moodus, tec. exploded
22, 23, 24, 60, 61. re-
iu rat ion of his doctrine
concerning fynods 144. ;
a facramental teft z6j ;
the loyally of the Nevv-
Englanders 290. His en-
mity a gain ft the Society
for the Propagation of

292,
&8

note, lJL 20, 2j, 53 note,
88, in, 135.

Negro, tried for caftration
83. Negro (laves, their
nard cafe 1 14*

Nell, Mr. 2157

New-England, the Matta*
chufets country nrft fo
called by Charles, prince
of Wales 2, divilions of
*lih4± Caufe of its firft
fettlement difcufled in,-

New -Fairfield 182.

New-Hampfliire, deprived
of territory 104, 10;.

Newhaven, fail fettled by
the EnglUh ioj. totally
without authority iL»
Early proceedings 6o^
Blue Laws 6^. State of
after the death of Crom-
well 2J± Accedes to the
charter 76. Particular
defcription of 184, A

(hip fitted out to procure
a patent, and wonderful
confequence 186, 187.

New- Hertford 183.

New-Lighrs, nonces con-
cerning 96, 286,288,289.

New-LondorTdefcribed 13$.
Port of, well calculated
for the grand emporium
of Connecticut 27L.

New-Milford l£x.

Newtown 222.

New- York gains land from
Connecticut 78, 29_, io_o ;
from Mailachutets - Bay
and Newhamplhire 104,
106. 14c. Conftitution
of, Subverted by the So-
ber Dillenters 404.

Nichols, Col. deprives Con-
necticut of Long-Ifland

111

- — , the Rev. Mr.

cruelly treated 418.
Nor walk 213, burnt 413.
Norwich, defcription of

1^8.

O.

Old Lights, notices concern-
ing 06, 286. 288, 289.

Onekp, king of Mohegin,
22, 23.

Onions, vaft quantity raifed
in Weathersfield 67 :
beds of, weeded by~the
young females of Wea-
thersfield ifiiL

Ofootonoc river, defcrip-.
tion of 132.

p.

Digitized by Google

INDEX.

P.

Parfons, Hugh, found guil-
ty of witchcraft 165.

Pawwaw, ancient Indian
right, celebration of at
Stratford defcribed 215*

Peters, the Rev. Hugh,
account of himfelf and fa-
mily 48-~n, note.

— , the Rev. Samuel,
account of 172, 392,414,

— , the Rev. Thomas,
his arrival at Say brook
% ; church fyftem 32 ;
ichool 42 5 character 4^,
fome particulars of his
life, ibid. note.

— — William, particu-
lars relating to 48, £1,
ill ii, note.

Phelps treacheroufly fent
on an expedition againft
Ticonderago and Crown-
Point 402.

Pitt, Mr. a churchman,
whipped for not attending
meeting 296.

Plainfield 162.

Plymouth New, founded j.

Pomeroy, Rev. Dr. cha-
racter of 171.

Pomfret 158.

Population 263.

Pork, unrair dealing in 261;.

Potter, Deacon, unjultly
convifled of beaftiality
iq6.

Poultry of Connecticut 25c,.

Prefbyterians, difliked and
ill-treated by Sober Dif-
fenters 162, 280.

Prefton 138.

Produce of Connecticut
241.

Prayer of fome of the epif-
copal clergy in the
fouthern provinces before
Congrefs 422*

Pumkin, hair cut by the
(hell of, iqi.

Pumkin - heads, a name
given to theNew-Englan-
ders iqs?.

Punderfon, the Rev. Mr.
joins the church of Eng-
land 22 1 .

Putnam, General, curious
anecdotes of 1 59 ; kills a
bear and cubs l6g* His
narrow efcapc from the
Indians i£i : tenible to
them 162. Alarms the
country by a letter con.
cernirg Admiral Graves
and General Gage.

Quackery truimphrmr 1S0.
Quaker, flirewd retort of

one upon his judges c^.
Quinnipio^, kingdom of,

183. Rpfufes to grant

land to the fettlers, and

is murdered

R.

Rattle-fnake, fome account
of 26 1. ufe of its (kin 324.
F f Reading

434

INDEX.

tleading 22^

Rebellion, true fources of

in America 367 — 383.
Religion, the edablifoed 81.
Reptiles zhc*

Revenue 274, objections
againft railing in America

Rhode-Ifland, infamous Uw
of the General Aflbmbly
of 224.

Ridgeticld 222. burnt 411.

Rivers, the three principal
defcribed 12c, 132.

Rivington, Mr. plundered

4°i^

S.

Sabbath, rigidly obferved
304* How broken by
an epifcopal clergyman,
309-

Sal.iry of the Governor,
Lieutenant - Governor,
Treafurer, &c. 278.

Sali (bury 182.

Sandeman, the Rev. Mr.
doctrine of 223.

Saflacus, fachem of the Pe-
quods, his kingdom and
character 133.

Saybrook, founded <£. De-
fcribed 14L. Its civil and
religious eftabliftiments
32. Eaily proceedings
Enters into confe-
deracy J2, Refufes to
fend agents to England,
to oppofe the king 46,
forms an alliance with

Hertford 42 ; and joint
in a frcret application for
a charter 74.

Saybrook Phi form, fome
account of C42

Scovil, the Rev. Mr. cruel
treatment of 418.

Seabury, R ev . Dr. taken
prisoner 40;.

Seels, religious, in Connec-
ticut, fome account of
2252.

Sharon, famous for a mill,
183.

Ship, wonderful ftory of one
fitted out at Newhaven

Sick, horrid mode of vifit-

ing 316.
Skunk, defcription and

wonderful property of

2.S3-

Smith, the Rev. Mr. no-
tices of 56, 168.

*■ William, nonces

concerning q8, 100—
102, 108. 122, 23c, ;Si.

Sober Dijfentcrs, religion of,
eftablilhed in Connecli-
cut 8_l Their uncandid
conduct towards cpifco-
palians, anabaptifts, qua-
kers, &c. in regard to
parilh rates 295 ; and
their fevere treatment of
Mr. Gibbs for refuting to
pay them 177. Their hu-
manity to lick ftraogers
and perfons Ihipwrccked

3*7.

INDEX.

435

317. Partial fupport of
. 318.

Society for the Propagation
of the Gofpel in Foreign
Parts, notices concerning
54. note, 107, 221, 228,
229, 230, 291, 292, 336,

381-
Soil 24T.

Sommcrs 170.

Stafford, the New-England

Bath 174,
Stamford 21 3.
Stamp-a6t, proceedings and

opinions relating to, in

Connecticut 335 — 366.
Stirling, E.of, his claim to

part of Connecticut 14.
Stonington 138,
Stratford, description of,

213.

■ river 132.

Strong, the Rev". Mr. Ne-

hemiah 208.
Superftition, ftriking in-

ftance of iSr.
Sunkfquavv, pretended fa»

Chcm 22, 23, 60.
Suffield 169.

Symfbury mines, account
of £25.

T.

Tea, aft for fending to
America, violently op-
pofed 385, 386.

Temple, Mr. feditious let-
ters imputed to 386.

Teft, facramental, unnecef-

fary in New • England

28;.

Thames river, defcribed
125.

Ticonderago, fecret expe-
dition againft 402.

Toland 170*

Torrington 183.

Travellers, Rnglifh, how
treated by landlords in
Connecticut 120.

Tree-frog, ability of 261.

Trumbull, Governor, fur-
nilhes a drefs for the effi-
gy of Mr. Grenville 344
note : writes an inlidious
letter to Gen. Gage 398 ;
adds to an alarming one
from General Putnam
416 ; and fpirits up the
mob againft the loyalills

4»7»

Try on, Governor, his cha-
racter LZl — 123 ; efcapes
the mob at New- York
4.0^ ; burns Danbury and
Ridgeficld ^11 ; releaies
the prifoners at Newha-
ven 412 ; burns Fairfield
ibid, and Norwalk 41 4.

U & V.
Uncas, pretended fachem

22j 23.
Union i 57.

Verdmont, accoiint of ioj
— 111.

Viets, the Rev. Mr. tried
for high treafon 418.

INDEX.

43 6

Vifey, the Rev. Mr. fap-
preflfes the Indian Paw-
waw at Stratford 2_l6*

Vol un town i&2*

W.

Wallingford, dcfcription of
212.

Warwick, Earl of, his title
to the foil of any part of
Connecticut, difproved,
1J — 18.

Waterbury 2 1 2.

Weathersfield, dercription
of 167. fingular induftry
of the females tne re 1 68.

Wentworth, Benning, efq.
grants townthips in Verd-
mont f ct;.

Whappcrknocker, descrip-
tion of 249.

WheelocV, Dr. Eleazer, no-
tices concerning c_c_, note,

Whipperwill, delcription of

Whnerleld, the Rev. Geo.
anecdote of 1 anc ^ cna "
rafter 211. Attempts to
work a miracle at Say-
brook 149. His charac-
ter of the people of Nor-
wich 140 ; of thole of

Hebron 1^1 ; of Guild-
ford 210 ; of Connecti-
cut in general 226, 304.

Whftmore, the Rev. Mr.
declares for the church
of England 22£L

Will, icandalous conceal-
ment of Mr. Grigfon'a
189, of Mrs. C ur feue'i
104.

Wellington 1^7.
Winchefter 183.
Windham 150, inhabitants

of terribly alarmed by

frogs IC2.
Wtndfor, defcribed, 169.
Wolcot, Oliver, treacheroui

cmbafly of 403.
Woodbury

Woodchuck, defcription of

2 Co.

W cod Hock 15S.
Wooiier, General, mortally
wounded

Y.

Yale College, account of,
199 — 209 : retort of its
corporation upon the Ge-
nt val Aflembly ^o.

York, Duke of, oblains a
grant including halt of
Connecticut

eta